Could the Gulf state of Oman hold the key to net zero emissions?

Could the Gulf state of Oman hold the key to net zero emissions?

As a key UN summit in Glasgow this week searches for ways to cut threats from global warming, one answer may lie in an unlikely place about 8,000 kilometers away: the tiny Gulf nation of Oman.A team of scientists and engineers there have been testing a new technology that captures planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere then injects it into Oman’s ample stores of peridotite rock, where it is stored away.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“From our rough calculation, in the region we have enough peridotite to mineralize upto 50 trillion tons of CO2 – almost every single emission by humankind since the industrial revolution,” said Talal Hasan, who heads Omani carbon removal firm 44.01.The company and its partner Climeworks AG, a Swiss start-up that specializes in direct air capture (DAC) of carbon, say “mineralizing” the gas into rock is “the safest, most scalable, and permanent approach of CO2 storage.”Removing carbon dioxide from the air has emerged as a core part of many national plans to limit rising temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, particularly as climate-damaging emissions from fossil fuel use continue to rise.

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)