Ecomodernism

Ecomodernists or techno-optimists argue that humans should protect nature and improve human wellbeing by developing technologies that decouple human development from environmental impacts. Essentially "do more but better", the more representing the growth the better representing technologies which will mitigate the externalities.

The main criticism of ecomodernism is the reliance of future undiscovered technologies which will reduce emissions from ongoing growth. Currently, the most viable technology is Carbon Capture Storage (CCS). CCS is designed to strip out carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases of industrial processes. These include gas and coal-fired electricity generating plants, steel-making, and industries including the conversion of natural gas to hydrogen, so that the gas can then be reclassified as a clean fuel. Currently there are only 26 CCS plants operating globally, capturing about 0.1 per cent of the annual global emissions from fossil fuels.

Jevons Paradox can be seen at work here, 81 per cent of the carbon captured to date has been used to extract more oil from existing wells by pumping the captured carbon into the ground to force more oil out. This means that captured carbon is being used to extract oil that would otherwise have had to be left in the ground.