I have learned some key takeaways from last year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai. The coal-fired phase-out plan, the initiatives for international coordination on the expansion of critical minerals, and so forth. But there is one topic that attracted me the most and prospectively is possible to do without even building a new plant.
I mean direct carbon capture is cool indeed, but what is the goal of reducing the carbon by installing carbon capture facilities that are highly energy-intensive? Recent research in 2020 showed that capturing CO2 emissions using the direct-air-capture mechanism would require almost as much energy as that contained in fossil fuels that produced the CO2, not yet considering the transporting and storing of the CO2. At this point, net zero is possibly going to be an endless journey.
My unpopular opinion: peatlands restoration is underrated. Despite covering ~3% of the global land surface, peatlands store more carbon than all other vegetation combined as many sources stated. It is a natural carbon sink. No debate. When plants die and they accumulate inside the basin, they won’t decompose. The peatlands buildup will keep carbon in an anaerobic environment where CO2 is unable to form. The peatlands won’t release the CO2 into the atmosphere and the gas will be trapped there forever. That’s why it is called a natural carbon sink, it acts like a sink in the kitchen.
Kalimantan is undoubtedly the home of natural carbon sinks. When I visited my family in May 2022, I went for bait-fishing in swamps and some tributaries of Sungai Barito with my uncles. At the bank sides of the rivers, there were large areas of peat swamp lands. My eyes were scanning around when I thought about how those trees and peatlands would end up in the future. It is prominent in Kalimantan that peatlands are drastically drained and burned to create nutritious soil due to unfertile soil type and at the same time, provide the cleared land for pulp and palm oil plantations. A harsh fact.
I always miss Kalimantan, I would say. It is my forever home. Now let’s take a look at my latest journey in 2022.
Back to the climate issue.
After the terrifying Summer last year which led to mass fires and severe droughts, people started to be mindful and learn all the initiatives of tackling the climate issue. Young people started to question the leaders’ commitment to the Paris Agreement. More and more words are spoken. It is indeed an urgent issue and at this point, all stakeholders should work together to scale up safeguarding and restoration of our water-related ecosystems or any other implementable carbon removal initiatives.
Get well soon, Earth. We love you.
