Sir, – In response to Kevin Nolan’s letter (December 13th) it is surprising to find that Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan and Elder Mary Robinson are accused of being naive in demanding action to reduce climate change.
The science on climate change is not vague and as fossil fuels emissions are the main culprit it would appear wise to phase out their use as quickly as possible.
He also says that technology should be found to enable us to continue using fossil fuels and that “would solve the climate change problem”.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one such technology but it is very expensive and not available at the scale that would be needed.
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As of September 2022 there were 30 carbon capture facilities in the world (Global CCS Institute) and nearly all of them were attached to industrial plants such as natural gas processing and fertiliser production.
Only one power station had a carbon capture and storage plant attached.
It is important to realise that we have little time left if we are to ensure the global temperature rise does not exceed 1.5 degrees and this can only be done by reducing fossil fuel use, increasing energy efficiency and encouraging renewable sources of energy. – Yours, etc,
NICK ARMSTRONG,
Dundrum,
Dublin 16.