The recent report from climate scientists is crystal clear: the world must act now. That means limiting global warming to 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But what does this entail?

Cutting a lot of emissions and reaching net zero. And this is urgent.

Embracing the urgency of this matter, more and more entities are pledging their net zero targets. There are now over 80 nations and hundreds of businesses that laid out their net zero roadmaps. These include the world’s supper emitters – China, the United States, the European Union, and India.

But what does achieving net zero emissions really mean?

This guide will explain the key facts and insights about this world-saving concept.

What Does Hitting Net Zero Emissions Mean?

Being at net zero emissions refers to a point where the GHG emissions released by humans into the air are balanced by the emissions removed from the air.

Think of it as a weighing scale. Emitting carbon and other GHG tips the scale and the net zero aim is to get the scale back into balance.

Reaching this balance requires two things.

Reducing the emissions released from human activities closest to zero.
Removing the emissions that are hard to reduce.

Getting to net zero means we can still generate some emissions. But as long as they are offset by initiatives that reduce GHG already in the atmosphere.

There are plenty of carbon removal solutions and technologies being developed to suck in CO2 from the air and store it.

So, emission reductions and removals go together in the world’s race to net zero.

When Must The World Get to Net Zero?

Every new ton of carbon emitted into the atmosphere is heating the planet more. The sooner the world stops adding CO2 and other GHG to the air, the better. But what’s the timeline for this?

As per IPCC’s latest report, to honor the Paris Agreement and limit temperature rise at 1.5°C, global emissions should be at net zero by 2050.

Still, hitting net zero in 2050 is too far distant away. Short-term emissions reduction targets are necessary. The Paris accord requires countries to reduce emissions by 7% each year this decade (from 2020 to 2030).

Climate science suggests a global timeline to be at net zero under two scenarios: limiting warming to 1.5°C and to 2°C.

The figure below shows this timeline. It separates two significant emissions – carbon dioxide and total GHG.

What the picture depicts is that achieving net zero CO2 emissions must be by 2050 (1.5°C) or by 2070 (2°C) at the latest. Whereas for non-CO2 emissions, it means by 2060 and by the end of the century.

The sooner emissions peak, the more realistic hitting net zero becomes.

This scenario results in less dependence on removing carbon beyond 2050.

But this timeline doesn’t say that all countries need to be at net zero at the same time. There are a lot of factors to consider here including:

Responsibility for past GHG emissions
Per-capita emissions
Capacity to act

This suggests that the deadline for the wealthier, higher emitters could be earlier. The opposite holds true for poorer emitters.

For instance, India has net zero targets by 2070 while Saudi Arabia and China both pledged to be at net zero by 2060.

Whereas the US, EU, UK, and Japan have all committed to hitting it by 2050.

But it’s crucial not just for countries but also for companies to have net zero targets. More so, their near-term emissions reduction goals must align with their net zero pledges.

Why It’s Vital to Align Interim CO2 Reduction Targets with Net Zero Plans?

Entities often set their net zero targets by 2050.

But to ensure that they’re on track toward their net zero pledge, their long-term goals must inform their interim targets.

This is critical to prevent locking in carbon-intensive and non-resilient infrastructure and technologies. It can also help them align the costs by investing in projects that can cut emissions now and still do so years later.

This is more vital for countries to design consistent policies that support reduction efforts in the long run. Also, countries party to Paris Agreement and COP26 agreed to submit their climate plans.

Such plans form part of their NDCs or nationally determined contributions. The NDCs outline interim emissions targets by 2030 and align governments’ climate plans with their near-term goals.

Most countries with net zero targets are starting to incorporate them into their interim NDCs. Here’s the current global map of countries that have net zero ambitions and their status.

Source: ClimateWatch Net Zero Tracker

More importantly, the corporate world had also paved its path toward net zero emissions.

World’s Heaviest Emitting Companies With Net Zero Targets And Strategies

Exxon also bid the highest to get offshore properties to use for carbon sequestration.

Likewise, Chevron also announced a $10 billion dollar investment into low carbon initiatives as part of its net zero targets.

Half of that budget will be for reducing emissions from fossil fuel initiatives. The remaining half will be for hydrogen energy and renewable fuels.

Specifically, Chevron will increase:

Renewable fuels production to 100,000 barrels per day
Renewable natural gas output to 40 billion British thermal units (BTUs) per day.
Hydrogen production to 150,000 tonnes per year
Carbon capture and offsets to 25 million tonnes per year.

Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum has also set its net-zero ambition by 2050. Like other oil majors, Occidental also invests in direct air capture (DAC) technology as one of its net zero strategies.

The firm expects to pull as much as 1 million metric tons/year of CO2 emissions via DAC.

The second heaviest emitting sector is the utilities with 2.3GtCO2e.

Italy-based Enel, one of the world’s biggest utility firms, has an initial net-zero emissions target by 2050 but moved it to 2040 instead. The firm also expressed to exit coal generation by 2027 and gas by 2040.

Enel plans to invest $160 billion to fund its net zero strategies to reach its ambitious goal. Part of that is to install around 154GW of renewable capacity by 2030.

Duke Energy also set ambitious climate goals. That’s to have at least a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions from electricity generation in 2030 on its way to net zero by 2050. They’re also targeting net zero methane emissions for their natural gas distribution by 2030.

The third sector with high emissions is manufacturing (1.4GtCO2e) which includes automakers.

While the utility companies are turning to renewables, car manufacturers are becoming electric.

Tesla led the way in its all-electric lineup and amassed huge carbon credit sales for it. It also produces green products that further add to its credit generation. Yet, it still hasn’t revealed its net zero goals.

Stellantis, on the other hand, has pledged to hit net zero emissions the soonest time by 2038.

While it used to rely on Tesla to meet its regulatory emissions, the European carmaker managed to cut down its emissions.

It was through its electrification ramp-up and technical improvements. This includes its battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and low-emission vehicles (LEVs) production.

To become carbon net zero in 2038, the carmaker focuses on these main levers:

Energy-efficient projects and energy management in all plants
Site compression and improvement of industrial footprint
Use and production of renewable energies
Technical innovations (e.g. Hydrogen, Power to gas)
CO2 capture and storage

Other manufacturers also made significant strides in their way toward decarbonization. Take for example the case of Del Monte Foods.

Del Monte Foods has invested significantly in renewable energy and reduced food waste. It also doubled capital investment in energy-efficient production operations.

The company’s strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050 is to invest more in:

Renewable energy,
Automation,
Transportation efficiency,
Regenerative agricultural practices, and
Eco-friendly packaging innovation

Though they’re not directly specified as a sector in the chart above, the airlines are also one of the big emitters.

In fact, the global aviation industry generates around 2.1% of all CO2 emitted by humans. Within the transport sector, it accounts for 12% of emissions compared to 75% from road transport. 

Here’s how the major US airlines are dealing with their net zero targets.

The Way to Net Zero 

It is certain that the world needs to take action and treat climate change as an emergency.

And the only means to face this emergency heads on is for countries and companies to hit their net zero emissions.  

There’s no single approach to how the world reaches net zero by 2050 or earlier. It requires a combination of various initiatives or strategies as to how different companies are doing it.

Another major element of that is setting near-term climate targets that align with long-term goals.

This will help investors assess the climate ambitions of their portfolio companies. It will also help corporations to have a good benchmark as they go on their journey to net zero.

The post What Does “Net Zero Emissions” Really Mean? appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Nature-based carbon credit platform Pachama raised $55 million in its latest funding round.

The venture capital firm Future Positive led Pachama’s Series B round. It’s also backed by several investors including the talk-show host Ellen Degeneres.

Pachama is focusing on saving and expanding forests across the world. It uses remote sensing and artificial intelligence to capture carbon and verify carbon credits.

Pachama’s Funding for Carbon Credit

The $55 million that Pachama raised will be for hiring new staff and driving research and development. It will also be for launching more projects.

This Series B round brings its total funds to $79 million. This funding will help speed up Pachama’s platform in bringing integrity and transparency to carbon credit markets.

Corporations are seeking to buy carbon credits to help offset their emissions. This is largely due to the urgent need for the world to decarbonize.

But critics said that it’s tough to assess with accuracy the amount of CO2 that forestry projects are sequestering. They believe that forest carbon capture is not scalable due to the absence of reliable data.

This is where Pachama comes in and offers a solution. For instance, its technology provides more accurate data that are credible and transparent.

Moreover, Pachama’s AI gives more assurance to buyers of carbon credits to reach their net zero goals.

The platform has been serving over 800 customers worldwide. And among them are the major companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, Airbnb, Netflix, and Shopify.

For three years, Pachama has been working with 46 project developers in 14 countries. It has also reviewed over 150 forest projects around the globe.

Currently, carbon offset projects involving forests are the most popular in reducing emissions.

They’re recognized under the REDD+ framework. It guides activities in the forest sector that avoid emissions from deforestation/degradation. It also helps enhance forest carbon stocks.

Within the voluntary carbon market, these projects get the highest prices and represent the biggest market share. The image below represents this, referring to nature-based avoidance.

 

Major Investors of Pachama

Pachama’s Series B funding round was led by Future Positive. Its founder, Fred Blackford, said that scaling carbon credit markets have a vital role in the collective action to decarbonize.

He added that,

“Pachama is building the infrastructure to support functioning carbon markets… Plus, it provides transparency and accountability around how carbon credits are issued and transacted.”

Pachama’s previous investors are Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and LowerCarbon Capital. While the new ones apart from Degeneres include:

actress Portia De Rossi,
PLUS Capital,
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian,
ReGen Ventures, and
20VC

Forests are a proven and cost-effective means of removing carbon from the atmosphere. But the present afforestation market is costly and fragmented.

Pachama’s technology addresses this concern by making carbon removal accessible for firms of any size. And so, the carbon credit platform enables afforestation to scale.

As per Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures,

“It would be key to documenting carbon removal and accelerating carbon neutrality and negativity”.

The post Carbon Credit Platform Pachama Secures $55 Million Funding appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Prometheus Fuels has made deals to deliver millions of gallons of carbon neutral fuel despite missed targets and skeptics.

Prometheus aims to remove CO2 from the air and turns it into zero net carbon fuel at a price as cheap as dirty gas. This fuel is “carbon neutral” because producing it uses only renewable energy sources.

This $1.5 billion startup develops direct air capture methods that filter CO2 to create commercially viable fuels.

The firm’s carbon capture method offers a great promise to replace oil and gas with zero net carbon fuels.

But many are skeptical if the energy startup can achieve its ambitious mission.

The Technology Behind Prometheus Carbon Neutral Fuel

The company calls its CO2 capture technology the Titan Fuel Forge. It’s a prototype that combines direct air capture and a novel nanotube membrane with a device that sucks CO2 from the air.

This unique system converts the captured CO2 into alcohol. Then it concentrates the alcohol to get rid of the energy-intensive distillation process.

In a year, a single Titan Fuel Forge can turn 900 tons of CO2 into 100,000 gallons of gas, diesel, and jet fuel. These fuels have identical molecules to the ones used in cars and planes.

Prometheus calls its final fuel electric fuels (e-fuels) with no agricultural inputs and no waste products. With this technology, the startup aims to reduce CO2 emissions by over 20 gigatons a year.

The image below shows the key processes involved in producing the firm’s e-fuels

Prometheus Titan Fuel Forge

A commercial-scale version of Prometheus carbon neutral fuel will use power from solar and wind energies.

Investors have poured money into the company. The firm says it has raised more than $50 million from various financing partners. The major ones are BMW’s investment arm, shipping giant Maersk, and Y Combinator.

It also made deals to sell millions of gallons of its fuels to American Airlines and other airlines. It was even specified by the Biden administration’s shift to sustainable aviation fuels.

Prometheus earned its Unicorn status with a $1.5 billion value after completing its venture round last year.

Yet, there are still many skeptics.

Prometheus Dubious Claims and Failed Promises

Last April, Prometheus said that it expects to have 500 carbon capture plants working by 2030. Together they can produce around 50 billion e-fuels a year and capture about 7 billion of CO2 by 2030.

If Prometheus carbon neutral fuels will be produced at the scale and cost ($3 a gallon) promised, it will indeed help address the climate crisis.

It will provide a cheap means to decarbonize the automobile and aviation industries. It can also help limit fossil fuel extractions and end oil refineries.

But a review from a team of experts is dubious of the company’s claims. Here’s a quick rundown of the major skeptical points of the company’s e-fuel claims.

Missed own targets.

Prometheus initially targeted to sell its carbon neutral fuels by 2020. But up until now, this hasn’t happened yet. And the firm still has to work on its device to produce fuels that can power cars today.

High costs of running the technology.

The unique carbon capture technology developed by Prometheus is straightforward chemistry. But the problem is that DAC equipment and electrolyzers are both expensive to make and run.

It needs considerable heat to separate the captured CO2 from the sorbents and concentrate the gas. Plus, it also takes a lot of electricity to power the electrolyzers.

A study on electrofuels found that with standard technologies, a gasoline equivalent would cost about $16.80 a gallon. And that’s even at a full commercial scale.

Such costs may fall to around $6.40 in the next decade and $3.60 by 2050. But this happens only with significant cost reductions in electricity and equipment used.

Solar and other clean energy costs.

Prometheus banks on its solar cost estimates: 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is due to the Los Angeles plan to buy renewable power for the said amount.

According to some, the unsubsidized cost of building and drawing power from a big solar project is around 3 cents/kWh.

Plus, relying fully on solar and wind power, which is the promise of Prometheus carbon neutral fuel, requires a couple of things.

The plants have to be very cheap, automated, and flexible to ramp up and down as electricity generation fluctuates.

Very aggressive process.

Lastly, the firm didn’t allow big venture capital firms with reputable carbon removal rigor to vet its scientific claims.

Experts in this field said that the costs and technical claims of Prometheus seem so unlikely. Making it a commercial reality will also take several years.

And most important, the firm has to be open in its processes and work under clear oversight and verification. This is to ensure that its fuels are carbon neutral indeed.

Investors Still Confident in Prometheus Carbon Neutral Fuel

Despite all those doubts and questions, Prometheus’ CEO and founder, McGinnis said that they’re all doing good. Delays are due to the pandemic and supply chain issues.

He further added that they’re not facing scientific challenges and responded that,

“There’s nothing between us and shipping fuel other than scaling… Skeptics that weren’t otherwise conflicted would be convinced if they had access to our data, models, and methods.”

The firm has also begun speaking with regulators about the steps they need to take to sell the fuel directly.

It will also use an impartial means of carbon neutral certification when it’s available. And that there will be more ways to verify how Prometheus carbon neutral fuels are produced, including a thorough analysis of the carbon.

Now that the firm has raised its Series B funding round, the CEO plans to hire quickly and move forward much faster. And Prometheus’ investors remain optimistic, too.

The chief executive at BMW i Ventures said that,

“If he (McGinnis) is successful, this is going to be a really big game-changer—and the odds aren’t against him.”

They’re confident that the firm is on track and that Prometheus carbon neutral fuel is “right around the corner.”

The firm plans to show its fuels later this year and may begin shipping them commercially in 2023.

Many other carbon removal startups are also in the same stage of perfecting and scaling up their carbon capture technologies.

The post Prometheus to Supply Carbon Neutral Fuel in 2023 Despite Skeptics appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Scientists made a new enzyme to break down plastics very fast, which can boost plastic credits.

Plastic credits are eyed as the next big thing to deal with sustainability, next to carbon credits.

Plastic is one of the major pollutions damaging the environment, especially the oceans. About 80% of all debris polluting the seas is plastic waste.

Companies have been working to find solutions to deal with the plastic crisis.

Luckily, scientists recently created an enzyme that breaks down plastic waste very fast. This new enzyme reduces the time it takes to decompose plastics to hours, not decades.

The New Discovery That Can Boost Plastic Credits

A team of scientists from the University of Texas at Austin discovered the new enzyme. They called it the FAST-PETase – functional, active, stable, and tolerant PETase.

PET refers to polymer polyethylene terephthalate, one kind of plastic material.

FAST-PETase involved the study of 51 different plastic containers, 5 polyester fibers, and water bottles made from PET.

The team used a natural PETase that is capable of degrading PET plastic while modifying it using machine learning.

Their technology discovers mutations that degrade the plastic faster under different environmental conditions. It can break down PET within a week or as fast as 24 hours, which took decades to centuries to happen before.

More interesting is that the scientists also showed that decomposed plastic can become a new plastic product.

The team said that they can use the new enzyme to clean up areas polluted by plastics. Also, their technology can work in environments with ambient temperatures.

There are endless possibilities for various industries to leverage this novel plastic solution. According to one of the chemical engineers,

“Beyond the obvious waste management industry, this provides corporations from every sector the opportunity to take a lead in recycling their products.”

Currently, the most common way to dispose of plastics is to throw them in landfills where they rot at a very slow rate. Others are even burning them which further pollutes the air.

Thus, there’s a need for alternative strategies to resolve plastic pollution. And the discovery of FAST-PETase can be a solution that’s cheap, portable, and not too difficult to scale up.

Better yet, it’s a great aid to the emerging rise of plastic offset or credit schemes.

How Do Plastic Credits Work

The plastic credit industry works like how the carbon credit industry does.

In the carbon credit market, entities buy carbon credits. Each credit equals one metric ton of carbon, which is then “offset” through carbon projects. These often involve renewable energy and nature-based projects.

The carbon credit market has been growing rapidly over the last few years. Verification of carbon credit projects becomes stricter to ensure the quality of carbon credits.

Both countries and companies are thriving to reduce their carbon emissions as part of their climate goals in line with the Paris Accord. And so, the carbon credit industry is booming as the world races to net zero by 2050.

Essentially, the plastic credit industry works the same way. The only difference is that companies claim credits for projects that tackle plastics.

Each plastic credit is equal to one ton of plastic waste that would otherwise have not been collected or recycled.

Plastic credits also have to meet certain quality assurance criteria or principles. Confirmation of quality is done via the project’s validation and verification process.

And like carbon credits, companies also have to retire plastic credits to offset their plastic waste footprint.

Verra has seen initial estimates for plastic credit prices ranging from $200 – $800 per tonne.

How to Use Plastic Credits

Plastic credits can help enhance technologies and systems that collect and recycle plastics. It’s very much the same as how carbon credits can help reduce carbon emissions.

Companies can use plastic credits to address the plastic wastes that they can’t get rid of yet. And like establishing a robust carbon footprint, a company needs to assess its plastic footprint to engage well in plastic offsets.

Here are some activities companies can do to mitigate their plastic footprint:

From Verra Registry

Plastic credits are issued to registry account holders listed on the Verra Registry. Under its Plastic Program, the issuance of plastic credits involves two parts.

One is the Waste Collection Credits (WCCs) for projects involving plastic collections. The other one is the Waste Recycling Credits (WRCs) for plastic recycling projects.

The discovery of the new plastic decomposing enzyme opens a new door for those who want to offset their plastic footprint.

Companies can leverage plastic credits with this enzyme along with carbon credits to address sustainability concerns.

Many firms even consider plastic waste reduction as part of their GHG emissions reduction strategy. It’s one viable way to deal with net zero commitments.

The post New Enzyme That Breaks Down Plastics May Boost Plastic Credits appeared first on Carbon Credits.