Green carbon - a natural response

No one seriously expects the fossil fuel age to end soon. It will certainly take decades for non-carbon based sources of energy to make a significant contribution to the energy equation. The capital cost of such a transition is estimated by the International Energy Agency at $10tn and the time needed for technological advances and commercialisation is measured in decades. Yet no one seriously believes that the fossil fuel age will last forever. Carbon constraints, in the form of emissions caps, fees or taxes, may have been delayed by the recession but the momentum behind them will not abate. In these circumstances, how does the oil and gas industry adapt at the lowest possible cost? The authors extol the benefits of forestry to capture carbon.