Alif Ilham Fajriadi, Jakarta – The issue of carbon capture and storage and CCS was debated by Gibran Rakabuming and Mahfud Md during the vice presidential debate last Friday. Responding to that, Greenpeace Indonesia said that CCS is a mere trick from the coal industry to appear as a hero to the public eye.

According to Greenpeace Indonesia, there is no use to debate on CCS regulation since it's ineffective to reduce actual emissions. "CCS is ineffective and is not part of the effort to reduce emissions. CCS will still release carbon since it cannot be stored indefinitely," said the Campaign Head of Greenpeace Indonesia Iqbal Damani on Tuesday.

Iqbal believed that CCS is no different than storing hazardous waste. The actual solution to reduce emissions, he believed, is protecting the remaining forest, peatland, and mangroves.

Thus, Greenpeace Indonesia said the discussion of CCS in the vice presidential debate provides a place for the coal industry to seemingly be a hero, neglecting the danger it presents.

"Nothing is more effective and cheaper to capture and store carbon than forests or other natural ecosystems," Iqbal said. Rather than phasing out the carbon reduction, Greenpeace Indonesia believed in burying the billion tons of carbon dioxide underground to avoid global warming and climate crisis.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1814101/greenpeace-indonesia-ccs-ineffective-against-carbon-emission