Wood fuel and carbon capture are climate "salvation"

The only way to fight “catastrophic” climate change is to ditch coal, burn trees for fuel instead and use carbon capture and storage, according to a leading climate scientist.

In an interview with the Independent on Sunday newspaper, Professor James Hansen says current targets for limiting the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a “recipe for global disaster, not salvation” and that we are already at the tipping point.

In fact, Hansen says that the current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere – around 385 parts per million – are already above the 350ppm he believes is the maximum level that would prevent the melting of the polar ice caps.

But even with a programme of carbon capture and storage, planting more trees and also burning wood for fuel instead of fossil fuels bringing levels down to 350ppm could still take another 100 years.

There’s some interesting quotes and facts in the full Indie article here