“Put that thing back where it came from or so help me…!”

Remember that line from Monster’s Inc? Where the monsters in the closet try to return the little girl back into her room…

Well, people are realizing that we’ve got a monster out there that we need to get back in the closet. In fact the world is largely in agreement – the Paris Agreement, for example, had 195 parties signing in recognizing the global warming monster that we’ve let out of the closet, and agreeing to put that level back where it came from – to get CO2 levels to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

The effort to catch the monster – to catch the gas before it reaches the atmosphere is known as carbon capture or carbon renewal. The effort to put it back in the earth is known as carbon sequestration or carbon storage.

How To Put Carbon Back Where It Came From?

There are ways to catch that carbon and return it back to the earth.

There’s certainly the natural way – plant more trees, better manage existing forests, better manage soil… In fact the 8 Billion Trees project is growing that solution more and more and is asking for your help.

There are industrial solutions, including pre combustion (trapping the carbon dioxide before burning), post combustion (capturing it after burning), oxyfuel combustion (burning in oxygen rather than in air), hydrogen production, and more. There’s also direct air capture – devices that suck carbon out of the air, though the technology has a way to go before it’s effectiveness is proven.

What Can We Do?

We can all take part in the “put that thing back where it came from or so help me” musical. We can measure our own carbon footprint and take mitigating action. We can invest in companies that are working to capture the monster and put it back where it belongs. We can use our voice to vote for candidates who are on the right side of the effort.

We need to catch that monster and put it away. Then we can dance and celebrate in a “Put that thing back where it came from or so help me” musical number. (And then enjoy the film!)