Net zero refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere. A growing number of countries, cities and companies are aiming for 'net zero' emissions to meet climate goals, and the International Energy Agency has unveiled a plan to get there.
For tree based removal of CO2 would demand between 0.4 and 1.2 billion hectares of land. That’s 25% to 80% of all the land currently under cultivation. How will that be achieved at the same time as feeding 8-10 billion people around the middle of the century or without destroying native vegetation and biodiversity?
If we add technological removal, it may be termed as investment with no return.
If we are purly dependent on plantation, growing billions of trees would consume vast amounts of water – in some places where people are already thirsty. Increasing forest cover in higher latitudes can have an overall warming effect because replacing grassland or fields with forests means the land surface becomes darker. This darker land absorbs more energy from the Sun and so temperatures rise. Focusing on developing vast plantations in poorer tropical nations comes with real risks of people being driven off their lands.
And it is often forgotten that trees and the land in general already soak up and store away vast amounts of carbon through what is called the natural terrestrial carbon sink. Interfering with it could both disrupt the sink and lead to double accounting.
As per the second law of thermodynamics, absolute zero emission is next to impossible, but certainly all nations are trying to reduce it
The ideas of environmentalists and the public to create a clean planet are clear in ideological terms, and of course we all strive for them.
However, the technical specifics of the plans and actions of "Net zero emission" raises many doubts.
Thus, the plans of companies to restore ecosystems and forests can lead to the purchase of land for free from poor farmers in developing countries.
Compensatory measures of enterprises (restoration of forests, land, carbon capture, etc.) may be minimal in comparison with the reduction of emissions at their own production facilities along all supply chains and in the process of consumption of released goods.
On the part of enterprises, various manipulations are possible with the withdrawal of operations with the highest level of emissions to companies and countries where there is no carbon regulation.
In this sense, "Net zero emission" is a slogan.
In order to turn the slogans of environmentalists into specifics, it is necessary to switch to clean production based on promising energy carriers. The transition to a new technological structure will completely prevent industrial emissions and there are plenty of specific technical opportunities.
One of the possibilities is to switch to electron-beam energy carriers:
Preprint Review of the current state of energy-intensive electron-bea...
Most of the researchers are looking towards large scale plantation. I don't think such large scale will be able to extract all emitted carbon dioxide and will serve as a mitigation measures for climate change. We will have add some sort of technology with the idea to decrease dependency on fossil fuels. We will also need to find out alternative of wood in the form of concrete, steel, plastic or other and decrease pressure on present available forest resources. Similarly for energy we have to work on policy measures for accelerating the use of solar and wind energy .
For further details recent report can be studied.
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
Zero emissions 2050 is not that simple
To reach net zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investment worldwide will need around $4 trillion.
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
Net zero is achievable if we plant more trees and reduce the contribution of green house gases.
Zero emissions must be treated from a holistic point of view, taking into account the sorrounding enviroment where the processe is carried out, because in all transformacion process emissions exist.
To stop emission is obvious that we need other kind of source of energy, but up today fossil fuels are used, and not global transition exist to other way of energy source.
Imagine, how many time and energy took to the nature to make that fossil fuels, and put them under ground, to produce the actual form of the earth; obviously they were made from carbon (CO2), so if we are returning those fossil fuel (CO2) also is obvious that environmental condition going to changue; and everything included in the earth (biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, litosphere and sociosphere).
Here are some works:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12206-011-0219-0
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544213007937
In my opinion net zero emission is not only possible by large scale plantation as plantation need land and earth have limited land to sustain life of animals specially human. Growing population of human need land for agriculture and other developmental works which can not be ignored. So, in this case suitable technologies are needed to be developed along with plantation to achieve net zero emission and this may be helpful in solution climate change mitigation
The term "net-zero" refers to achieving a balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and emissions removed from the atmosphere. To achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions, all available Paris-compatible pathways employ a combination of three strategies. These are rapid and large CO2 reductions; additional deep reductions in non-CO2 greenhouse gases; and an increase in CO2 removal strategies.
The following link might be helpful for further reading:
https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00662-3/d41586-021-00662-3.pdf
Net-zero is a very tricky term to focus our attention. Anyway terrestrial and marine systems have a huge capacity to sink and store Carbon. Another question is to change agriculture to regenerative models. All 3 land uses - forest, agriculture and pastures may sequester Carbon as some IPCC reports. But restoration of the natural systems is needed, at the same time as a decisive degrouth happens in GHG emissions.
Net Zero is a slogan drafted to convince us that CO2 is a pollutant causing climate warming; watch Dr. Happer's video presentation, especially starting at 12:30 to understand the physics showing CO2 is not a problem...see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qhxj6GkWpE
Till now it is a slogan, but its the policy makers of the nation who can implement it. Blue carbon can help in mitigation
Policy makers do not read or understand the climate science documented in the IPCC reports.... see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tz1MiX1p5I
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