NetZero is not about Basketball

With any topic there are some words and terms that are important. Here are a few:

Net-Zero is not a reference to missing the net! It is a term used to note the balance of carbon emissions from a company or product. Net-Zero refers to emitting less carbon, and any carbon that is emitted is captured and stored. It is Net-Zero because the ledger shows the same amount of carbon captured as emitted.

Offsetting is the term used to describe the trading of carbon emitted for carbon captured. If I am have reduced my emissions to 1000 kg and I want to be Net-Zero I would need to capture 1000 kg of carbon to offset my emissions.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture Utilization or Storage (CCUS) refers to this technology of capturing carbon and using it to make a product (think carbonated beverages) or storing it long term in underground land formations.

CCS/CCUS technologies are quite varied and somewhat controversial. Carbon can be naturally captured from the atmosphere by trees and plants and stored in the soil. This works well, but many are concerned that it is not a permanent solution. At some point, the forests and soils could be disturbed, releasing all that stored carbon. Not what we want.

Carbon captured directly from the air (or industrial processes that emit carbon) and referred to as Direct Air Capture (DAC). Some of these technologies capture the carbon chemically and store it underground or bind it to other materials permanently. DAC is good, but expensive.

Carbon-Zero means not emitting any carbon.

Carbon Negative would be if we capture more carbon than we emit.

Slowing climate change requires less carbon in the atmosphere. The first order of business is to reduce new carbon entering the fast carbon cycle (see Climate Science). This means no more extraction and burning of fossil fuels. From there, the goal is to start removing historic carbon from the fast carbon cycle - carbon that was in the ground (fossil fuels) but has been released in the last 100 or so years.

If a company has a goal of Net-Zero by 2030, it means they will offset all carbon emissions through CCS technologies by then. Carbon Offsets are the official term for this practice.

Carbon Footprint

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)