Sync Industries

The electrification of transportation is already underway; as of January 2021, nearly 10 million EVs were on the road worldwide. But the technology we need to scale is behind schedule, and progress is frustratingly slow. The key objective for the electrification of transportation is to reduce the 8 gigatons of transportation emissions to 2 gigatons by 2050. The key results required in order to electrify transportation:

• EVs achieve price-performance parity with new combustion-engine vehicles in the U.S. by 2024 ($35k), and India and China by 2030 ($11k)

• One of two new personal vehicles purchased worldwide are EVs by 2030, 95% by 2040

• All new buses are electric by 2025 and 30% of medium and heavy trucks purchased are zero-emission vehicles by 2030, 95% of trucks by 2045

• 50% of miles driven (2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, cars, buses, and trucks) on the world’s roads are electric by 2040, 95% by 2050(reduce 5Gt)

• 20% of miles flown use low-carbon fuel by 2025; 40% of miles flown are carbon-neutral by 2040 (reduce 0.3Gt)

• Maritime shift all new construction to “zero-ready” ships by 2030(reduce 0.6Gt)

All told, more than 15 percent of the entire emissions emergency, around 9 gigatons a year, can be attributed directly to our food system-to industrial farming, livestock (especially beef cattle), rice production, and emissions from fertilizers and food waste. To reach net zero, we must change the way farming and our food system works, from the ground up. By 2050, the global population will expand to nearly 10 billion people, up from 7 billion today. A growing middle class will increase demand for meat and dairy products. For everyone to have enough to eat, we’ll need to produce up to 60 percent more calories than we did in 2010. The key objective to fix food is to reduce the 9 gigatons of agricultural emissions to 2 gigatons by 2050. The key results required in order to fix food:

• Improve soil health through practice that increase carbon content in topsoils to a minimum of 3% (reduce 2Gt)

• Stop the overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizers and develop greener alternative to cut emissions in half by 2050 (reduce 0.5Gt)

• Promote lower-emissions protiens, cutting annual consumption of beef and dairy 25% by 2030, 50% by 2050 (reduce 3Gt)

• Reduce methane and nitrous oxide from rice farming by 50% by 2050 (reduce 0.5Gt)

• Lower food waste ratio from 33% of all food produced to 10% (reduce 1Gt)

So what exactly is carbon dioxide removal-or, for short, carbon removal? It’s a range of activities that would capture CO₂ molecules from the atmosphere, then store them. The CO₂ can be embedded in industrial products or in reservoirs underground, soils, forests, rocks, or oceans. And so the question becomes: Should we focus on reducing our emissions, or should our priority be to remove them? Given the fierce competition over limited climate action funding, its more than an academic debate. The world needs to do both. The two efforts are interwoven. Without carbon removal at scale, emissions cuts would need to double each year through 2040 for us to reach net zero in time. The key objective is to remove 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year. The key results required in order to remove carbon:

• Implement nature-based removal, removing at least 1 gigaton per year by 2025, 3 gigatons by 2030, and 5 gigatons by 2040. (reduce 5 Gt)

• Implement engineered removal, removing at least 1 gigaton per year by 2030, 3 gigatons by 2040, and 5 gigatons by 2050. (reduce 5 Gt)

In our climate today, we’re seeing several dangerous occurrences wherein the input (emissions) amplifies output in a loop fashion. It’s terrifying and unchartered territory; even the best climate models don’t fully account for them. To better understand the damage being done, think of Earth as a gigantic, supremely intricate machine. High concentrations of atmospheric carbon warm the globe. High ambient temperatures suck the water from forests. The dry heat ignites and spreads wildfires, which throw the trees’ stored carbon into the atmosphere, which drives temperatures still higher. That’s the quandary we’re in now. Feedback loops can get stuck on repeat. If the fundamental causes of carbon emission doesn’t get switched off, the global warming loop will become a runaway disaster. Whole ecosystems will be destabilized-forests, to be sure, but also farmlands and savannas, river deltas and oceans. The key objective is go from 6 gigatons of carbon emissions to 1 gigaton by 2050. The key results required in order to achieve this goal is to:

• Achieve net-zero deforestration by 2030; end destructive practices and logging in primary forests. (reduce 6 Gt)

• Eliminate deep-sea bottom trawling and protect at least 30% of oceans by 2030, 50% by 2050. (reduce 1 Gt)

• Expand protected land from 15% today to 30% by 2030, 50% by 2050.