Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMister Bone Saw Has A Bold Plan To Capture 1/10th Of 1% Of Global Carbon Output 13 Years From Now
Saudi Arabia is bolstering years of negotiation tactics designed to stymie vital climate negotiations with a focus on carbon capture technologies that experts say risk delaying a meaningful transition from fossil fuels. The kingdom, which is the worlds second largest oil producer, accounting for roughly 15% of global output, announced plans at Cop27 in Egypt for what it labelled the circular carbon economy, in partnership with the national oil company, Aramco, which recently reported $42.4bn in profit.
The plan primarily involves the construction of the worlds largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub, operated by Aramco, in the kingdoms eastern region of Jubail. The centre will begin functioning in 2027, said the energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, initially extracting and storing 9m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year with an aim to capture and store 44m tonnes by 2035.
While Aramco also highlights steps to reduce harmful gas flaring and mentions scaling up renewable energies, the overall focus on CCS technology rather than scaling down fossil fuel consumption was met with widespread scepticism by informed observers. All that was on display was illusions and false solutions that are a waste of time and money, said Ghiwa Nakat, executive director at Greenpeace Mena (Middle East and north Africa). We acknowledge the difficulties for an economy that has been over-reliant on oil for decades in letting go of what they see as a golden age. Its surprising that an innovator like Saudi Arabia should stick with oil when it would do better to make peace with the end of an era.
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The (Ed. - 2022) decision to cut oil production marks a contrast with years of Saudi Arabian tactics at the Cop talks intended to find collective solutions to the climate crisis. A former climate negotiator and current civil society observer who has attended 17 Cops, including Cop27, described a decade of experience dealing with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia had two major tactics. One was procedure obstruction, which is something theyve done, and theyre still doing. Because its the United Nations system, one country can object and hold up or halt the process, and thats what they usually do. They either do this through fighting not to get important items on the agenda, or taking them off the agenda, she said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/19/false-solutions-scepticism-over-saudi-carbon-capture-plan
Midnight Writer
(21,548 posts)My hometown was "awarded" the honor of being the site of a revolutionary new carbon capture energy plant. They spent five years "searching" for the perfect site, which seemed to be based on how much the community was willing to subsidize the plant.
It was like a tournament, with the Top Ten, then the Top Five, the the Final Two, and finally we got it. Some farmers sold land at an inflated price to speculators, the Chamber of Commerce had a Rah-Rah campaign with parades and billboards and demonstrations of the technology, and landlords bought up empty houses that they intended to rent to the construction workers that would be coming into the area. The Mayor and City Council took victory laps.
This was 20 years ago. The company moved on without a single shovel full of dirt being turned to start construction.
The company decided it was no longer a feasible project. Never heard another word about it.
Thank God.
hatrack
(59,446 posts).
Midnight Writer
(21,548 posts)Would have been built right over the country's largest aquafer, which alarmed a lot of folks.