Considering the true costs of carbon-reducing technologies

While global CO₂ emissions flattened out between 2014 and 2016, they started to increase again in 2017 (up 1.6%) and are predicted to have been up 2% in 2018. The increasing use of oil and gas, and the ongoing use of coal have been identified as the main causes. Fundamental to the issue is the actual whole-life costs of introducing more renewables since the full range of environmental impacts from creating a new renewables infrastructure must be considered, including the mining and industry involved in supplying vast amounts of minerals and metals. Other cost issues need to be considered is the actual carbon footprint involved in the increased use of natural gas by many developed-economy governments as a means of reducing carbon emissions. Being more realistic about the whole costs of renewables is critical for the transition period that governments and their policymakers understand the full picture and avoid making a headlong rush for renewables without considering the sustainability of the transition. In particular, that requires an open mind when choosing the most-effective and workable transition technologies. An example of this is carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS has tended to be marginalized in recent years due to the obvious additional costs and loss of efficiency in power generation. But in this context, CCS is a workable option in terms of balancing financial costs and meeting carbon reduction targets.