4.7 Article

Net-Zero CO2 Germany-A Retrospect From the Year 2050

Journal

EARTHS FUTURE
Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages -

Publisher

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2021EF002324

Keywords

net-zero; carbon dioxide removal; negative emissions; mitigation; natural-sink enhancement; geological storage

Funding

  1. Helmholtz Association's Initiative and Networking Fund

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This study envisions a net-zero Germany by 2050 by combining energy-system modeling with an analysis of carbon circularity and carbon dioxide removal potentials. It analyzes how Germany achieved a balance between anthropogenic CO2 sources and sinks, with a focus on full decarbonization and zero emissions by 2050 through three key strategies: avoiding, reducing, and removing emissions. This collaborative work involves interdisciplinary scientists from the Helmholtz Climate Initiative HI-CAM's Net-Zero-2050 cluster.
Germany 2050: For the first time Germany reached a balance between its sources of anthropogenic CO2 to the atmosphere and newly created anthropogenic sinks. This backcasting study presents a fictional future in which this goal was achieved by avoiding (similar to 645 Mt CO2), reducing (similar to 50 Mt CO2) and removing (similar to 60 Mt CO2) carbon emissions. This meant substantial transformation of the energy system, increasing energy efficiency, sector coupling, and electrification, energy storage solutions including synthetic energy carriers, sector-specific solutions for industry, transport, and agriculture, as well as natural-sink enhancement and technological carbon dioxide options. All of the above was necessary to achieve a net-zero CO2 system for Germany by 2050. Plain Language Summary Here a net-zero-2050 Germany is envisioned by combining analysis from an energy-system model with insights into approaches that allow for a higher carbon circularity in the German system, and first results from assessments of national carbon dioxide removal potentials. A back-casting perspective is applied on how net-zero Germany could look like in 2050. We are looking back from 2050, and analyzing how Germany for the first time reached a balance between its sources of CO2 to the atmosphere and the anthropogenic sinks created. This would consider full decarbonization in the entire energy sector and being entirely emission-free by 2050 within three priorities identified as being the most useful strategies for achieving net-zero: (a) Avoiding- (b) Reducing- (c) Removing emissions. This work is a collaboration of interdisciplinary scientists with the Net-Zero-2050 cluster of the Helmholtz Climate Initiative HI-CAM.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available