what is “net” zero emissions? I understand the concept of gross vs net, just not in this instance.
In: Earth Science
Basically if something is described as net zero emissions it means that it’s emissions output is matching the emissions that it is either eliminating or otherwise reducing.
In other words, if a country is producing, let’s say 15 million tons of carbon emissions per year, but at the same time is eliminating 15 million tons of carbon emissions through renewable energy and other green initiatives, they would be considered as producing a net carbon emissions of zero.
This should not be confused with zero emissions, since that means to reduce or eliminate any emissions completely.
Some things emit pollution. The amount of pollution they emit can be reduced. In theory it might be reduced to zero, but in practice it probably cannot.
But pollutants can also be pulled from the atmosphere.
So net zero emissions is when the total emissions is zero. Which might be zero emissions or it might be some emissions canceled by some pulling of pollutants from the atmosphere.
It’s pretty much impossible to do anything without emitting *some* pollution somewhere down the line. Net zero doesn’t mean we aren’t creating any emissions, it means that of all the emissions we do make is removed from the atmosphere/environment. If we produce 10 tons of CO2, then remove 10 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, it’s a net zero. There are many ways to do this – it’s possible to scrub carbon from the atmosphere, it’s possible to capture polluting gasses and particulates at the source and store them in safer ways than letting them disperse into the atmosphere, etc.
There are ways to remove carbon and other elements from the atmosphere. If you set up a system where you are still emitting something into the atmosphere, but you have a process for removing it from the atmosphere at an equivalent rate, then you aren’t contributing to increasing levels in the atmosphere overall and your emissions are “net zero.”
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