Oil companies need more carbon offsets than are available on the planet

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– Carbon offsets are just not a realistic way to solve climate change.
– That becomes clear when you realize how much oil companies alone would need.

This Bloomberg article gives the sobering news that as more companies turn to offsets to lower their environmental impact, the total volume they need will quickly exceed the planet’s ability to provide them. Here’s an excerpt:

Take Royal Dutch Shell Plc. It was the first oil major to make a commitment to cutting the emissions from its customers — known as “Scope 3 emissions” —  making it one of the most progressive oil companies on climate.

That was 2017.  Last month, Shell set out its latest plan to get to net zero. The big reveal left climate experts mostly unimpressed, in part because the company plans to increase its total fossil fuel output in the near term by boosting gas production, and the majority of its capital expenditure will continue to go towards oil and gas. To get to net zero while doing that, it plans to capture 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year via “nature-based” offsets by 2030.