Report suggests UK reliant on unproven emissions technologies
23 Oct 2016
A perspective published in the journal Science suggests the Paris Agreement and the carbon-reduction plans of many governments – including the UK – are unwittingly reliant on unproven technologies that directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The perspective reveals the scale and widespread reliance on ‘negative emissions technologies’, which remain at best experimental, said the University of Manchester, whose professors helped write the opinion piece.
If these ‘Dr. Strangelove’ technologies fail to deliver at the planetary scale envisaged, our own children will be forced to endure the consequences of rapidly rising temperatures and a highly unstable climate
Kevin Anderson, co-author of the article and professor at the University of Manchester
“The beguiling appeal of relying on future negative emission technologies (NETs) is that they delay the need for stringent and politically challenging polices today – they pass the buck for reducing carbon on to future generations” said Kevin Anderson, co-author of the article and professor at the Universities of Manchester and Uppsala.
“But if these ‘Dr. Strangelove’ technologies fail to deliver at the planetary scale envisaged, our own children will be forced to endure the consequences of rapidly rising temperatures and a highly unstable climate,” he added.
According to Anderson, NETs should not be considered as an insurance policy to carbon removal.
“They are a high risk gamble with tomorrow’s generations, particularly those living in poor and climatically vulnerable communities, set to pay the price if our high stakes bet fails to deliver as promised.”
