Storing CO2 under North Sea ‘can help cut global warming’

THE world is on track to tackle climate change by storing carbon dioxide emissions underground, experts claimed yesterday.

There is already four times as much capacity to store the greenhouse gas than is needed to meet even “ambitious” targets, said an Imperial College London team.

A separate study said tropical forests are more resilient to global warming than previously thought.

Carbon capture and storage is a key weapon in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

John Ingham

Change’s strategy to control greenhouse gas emissions.

It involves trapping CO2 at its emission source to stop it from entering the atmosphere. One option is to pump the gas into old North Sea oil and gas fields.

Dr Christopher Zahasky, of Imperial College, said: “Our study shows that if climate change targets are not met by 2100, it won’t be for a lack of carbon capture and storage space.” The study appeared in journal Energy & Environmental Science.

The resilience of rainforests was revealed in the journal Science by Dr Martin Sullivan, from the University of Leeds.

He said: “Our analysis reveals that – up to a certain point of heating – tropical forests are surprisingly resistant to small temperature differences.

“If we limit climate change, they can continue to store a large amount of carbon.”