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Elsevier

Energy Policy

Available online 12 May 2022, 112950
In Press, Corrected ProofWhat are Corrected Proof articles?
Energy Policy

"Carbon Bombs" - Mapping key fossil fuel projects

Author links open overlay panelKjellKuhne^a^bNilsBartsch^cRyan
DriskellTate^dJuliaHigson^eAndreHabet^f
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112950Get rights and content
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Highlights

*

    There are 425 fossil fuel projects with >1 Gt CO[2] potential
    emissions globally.

*

    Carbon bombs' potential emissions exceed a 1.5 degC carbon budget
    by a factor of two.

*

    40% (169 out of 425) of carbon bombs had not started extraction
    in 2020.

*

    Defusing carbon bombs should be a priority for climate change
    mitigation policy.

Abstract

Meeting the Paris targets requires reducing both fossil fuel demand
and supply, and closing the "production gap" between climate targets
and energy policy. But there is no supply-side mitigation roadmap
yet. We need criteria to decide where to focus efforts.

Here, we identify the 425 biggest fossil fuel extraction projects
globally (defined as >1 gigaton potential CO[2] emissions). We list
these "carbon bombs" by name, show in which countries they are
located and calculate their potential emissions which combined exceed
the global 1.5 degC carbon budget by a factor of two. Already producing
carbon bombs account for a significant percentage of global fossil
fuel extraction. But 40% of carbon bombs have not yet started
extraction.

Climate change mitigation efforts cannot ignore carbon bombs.
Defusing them could become an important dimension of climate change
mitigation policy and activism towards meeting the Paris targets. So
far, few actors, mainly from civil society, are working on defusing
carbon bombs, but they are focussing on a very limited number of
them. We outline a priority agenda where the key strategies are
avoiding the activation of new carbon bombs and putting existing ones
into "harvest mode".

Keywords

Supply side mitigation
Carbon bombs
Carbon budget
Harvest mode
Fossil fuels
Climate change
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