IEA: Oil and gas industry needs to abandon carbon capture ‎illusion

IEA Director Fatih Birol said that the oil and gas industry needs to abandon the illusion of carbon capture technology as a solution to the climate change crisis.

Birol stressed in a statement today, Friday, the need to invest more in clean energy, adding, “Industry needs to commit to truly helping the world meet its energy needs and climate goals, which means abandoning the illusion that seizing very large amounts of carbon is the solution.” ‎

Carbon capture technology is based on capturing carbon dioxide resulting from industrial processes before it enters the atmosphere and storing it underground.

Birol stressed that oil and gas companies are facing a moment of truth regarding their role in the transition towards clean energy, adding, “Only 1% of global investments in clean energy come from oil and gas companies… The industry needs to face the bitter truth that a successful clean energy transition will require… reducing oil and gas operations, not expanding them.”

He continued: Therefore, at a time when all oil and gas producers need to reduce emissions from their operations, including methane leakage, our call to take action is broader.

According to the International Energy Agency report, the industry needs to invest 50% of capital expenditures in clean energy projects by 2030 to meet the goal of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

However, the industry allocated only 2.5% of its capital spending towards clean energy in 2022.

The International Energy Agency also stressed that $3.5 trillion must be spent in annual investments from today until the middle of the current century, which is equivalent to the total annual revenues of the oil and gas industry in recent years.