Some environmental activists have already criticized the plan because it ignores the phase-out of oil and gas, instead focusing only on coal.

On February 6, the European Commission recommended reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 (compared to 1990 levels). The proposals have not yet been officially released, but they have already received a lot of criticism. Part of the plan is not to prevent emissions, but to “catch” them from the atmosphere, and it also focuses on phasing out coal, ignoring oil and gas.

“Without a clear plan to divest from fossil fuels, the proposals are simply not credible. It’s like building a bicycle without pedals – how will it work?” said Dominic Eagleton, a member of the non-profit organization Global Witness, according to The Verge.

The EU’s climate roadmap suggests that around 8% of the total 90% of emissions reductions could be achieved by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, a technology that has yet to prove itself at scale and raises many questions about efficiency and cost.

Context

A separate strategy document on CO2 capture states that the EU should ensure the storage of 280 million tons of captured carbon dioxide per year by 2040, and 50 million tons by 2030 (equivalent to Sweden’s annual CO2 emissions).

Last year, roughly two dozen carbon dioxide filtering plants around the world were able to capture less than 0.01 million tons of CO2. The cost of such technology, meanwhile, reaches $600 per ton, which makes it extremely expensive. True, Heirloom, which launched a CO2 capture facility in the US last year, has set a long-term goal of $100 per ton and is aiming to reach it, thanks in part to economies of scale and mass production of components (though it’s hard to see how that will happen yet).

Of course, those plants that exist today are unlikely to cope with the volumes envisaged by the EU plans, so the commission proposes to install similar installations at power plants or other sources of pollution, which will also require significant investment.

By 2050 alone, the EU plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero, which is in line with the plans of the Paris Climate Agreement aimed at stopping climate change. The US and China, the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, have made similar commitments. Meanwhile, according to the World Meteorological Organization, in 2022 the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will reach record levels — the concentration of carbon dioxide, for example, has already exceeded pre-industrial levels by 50%.