The United States recently unveiled a comprehensive roadmap to end its dependence on fossil fuels, as detailed in a recent publication in Nature Reviews Chemistry. The strategy, developed by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and six other Department of Energy national laboratories, focuses on achieving net-zero carbon emissions by emphasizing defossilization.
This innovative approach involves reducing reliance on fossil fuels and repurposing existing carbon rather than solely capturing or storing it. The collaborative effort among researchers from DOE laboratories aims to defossilize various sectors of the US economy, particularly those that prove challenging for electrification.
The research highlights a shift towards a circular economy by recycling a significant portion of existing carbon from sources like fossil-fueled power generation and hard-to-utilize materials such as biomass, municipal waste, biomethane, carbon dioxide, and plastics. By implementing defossilization, the transportation and industrial sectors, which contribute over 50% of the nation’s carbon footprint, could experience significant reductions in new emissions.
Despite ongoing efforts to transition to cleaner technologies and materials, some segments of the economy will continue to require carbon for operations. Michelle K. Kidder, a key researcher at ORNL, emphasizes the importance of accelerating the discovery of transformative technologies to achieve defossilization in sectors that are difficult to electrify. This would address the urgent need to meet aggressive 2030 and 2050 US emission reduction targets.
Hundreds of scientists and technical experts from national laboratories are working collaboratively to overcome scientific and technological challenges, integrating chemistry, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to predict properties for novel materials. High-performance computations using ORNL’s Frontier supercomputer facilitate the design and modeling of next-generation energy technologies.
The researchers also conduct comprehensive analyses considering technical, environmental, economic, political, and social factors to ensure that defossilization efforts are equitable and environmentally sustainable. The aim is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while fostering inclusive solutions that benefit all communities. Implementing a circular economy approach, along with accelerating technological advancements, is crucial in the fight against climate change.
By embracing defossilization, the US is taking a significant step towards achieving a sustainable and carbon-neutral economy, paving the way for a greener and cleaner future.
