The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has aggravated the carbon dioxide situation in the atmosphere for 14 months. First, in a special report "Global warming 1.5 °", published in October 2018, the IPCC focuses on the fact that it is still possible to keep the temperature rise of the planet within the designated temperature limits. To do this, the whole world needs to really implement the Paris Agreement and the prescribed priority measures, thanks to which it is possible to limit global warming. First of all, by 2030, it is necessary to halve global CO2 emissions and achieve zero emissions no later than mid-century. This can be achieved by gradual reduction, followed by a complete rejection of fossil fuel combustion, that is, the rejection of coal, oil and gas.
And already in December 2019, experts from the IPCC and the International Energy Agency, referring to computer models, said that reducing CO2 emissions would not solve the problem of global warming. It is also necessary to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to Phys.org. If it needs to be deleted, then it must be stored or used somewhere. And a solution to the problem has already been found. A joint project was proposed by the University of Texas (USA), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the Equinor Research Center (an international energy company): the captured carbon dioxide can be stored in specially drilled wells in the coastal continental regions of the world on all continents.
By 2050, 6-7 billion tons of CO2 must be captured and stored. The goal can be achieved by drilling 10,000-14,000 mines over the next 20-30 years. It seems like a huge number, but as the team assures, it is significantly less than the total number of wells drilled for the needs of the oil and gas industry. For example, the number of declared underground reservoirs is equivalent to the number of wells drilled over the past 70 years in the development of oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, these thousands of wells need to be scattered over the states.
The team believes that the project is quite feasible, the only thing is that we need to get started quickly with its implementation.
