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Carbon offsets are not a structural solution though. Most offsets right now reduce emissions elsewhere, where it's either cheaper or technologically more feasib
by Denvercoder9 5y ago
Carbon offsets are not a structural solution though. Most offsets right now reduce emissions elsewhere, where it's either cheaper or technologically more feasible. However, eventually we'll run out of those, and offsets will actually need to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Since there's no feasible synthetic carbon sequestration process invented yet, practically that means you have to increase biomass, and ensure it remains biomass in perpetuity. That can only be taken so far, at a certain point you'll run out of space to plant forests.
- Qub3d 5y agoWell, then carbon offsets raise in price as it becomes more expensive to offset a given quantity of CO2. This makes various schemes relying on purchasing offsets more and more expensive, until they become unfeasible or are spending so much that really radical advanced techniques can be developed or become realistic to implement. Economics is a powerful tool.
- go_blue_13 5y agoYou're missing the point of the offset market: as we exhaust the low hanging fruit of planting forests, and carbon becomes more and more expensive to offset, increasingly complex and expensive carbon capture schemes become feasible