Net zero goals often focus on energy, but 15 to 20 percent of fossil fuel consumption goes into materials like plastics, fertilizers, and chemicals. These products lock in carbon that eventually returns to the atmosphere, creating a massive gap in current emissions accounting. Transitioning to a circular carbon economy requires replacing fossil feedstocks with biogenic sources and captured CO2. Success depends on scaling end of life infrastructure and implementing digital product passports to track the origin and impact of industrial carbon.
