decarbonize

verb

de·​car·​bon·​ize (ˌ)dē-ˈkär-bə-ˌnīz 

decarbonized; decarbonizing; decarbonizes

transitive verb

1

: to remove carbon from (something)

It's usually not necessary to dismantle the engine to decarbonize it anymore.

—Allen D. Berrien

2

: to reduce the levels of carbon emissions (such as carbon dioxide) caused by or involved in (something, such as a facility, process, or organization)

… we must decarbonize the energy supply by developing forms of power that emit less greenhouse gas or none at all.

—Daniel Ben-Ami

[Steve] Cohen is confident that we will be able to decarbonize our economy in time to avoid catastrophic climate impacts.

—Renee Cho

intransitive verb

: to reduce the production of carbon emissions

Certainly, people at Airbus say they need to decarbonize, and research on battery technology for electric planes has been disappointing.

—Ned Potter

decarbonizer noun

Examples of decarbonize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By Justin Worland/Baku November 21, 2024 3:31 PM EST The United Nations climate conference, now in its final days in Baku, has exacerbated longstanding tensions between countries on the path to decarbonize the global economy. —Justin Worland/baku, TIME, 21 Nov. 2024

Biden — and presumably Harris — wants African countries to decarbonize, because many still rely on fossil fuels for energy. —New York Times, 3 Nov. 2024

More climate-ambitious states are already layering on their own monetary incentives to decarbonize. —Vox Staff, Vox, 24 Oct. 2024

Complicating the issue in the march to decarbonize the power sector are rapid technical leaps occurring in a myriad of energy forms—solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and hydrogen—as policymakers set ambitious deadlines for consumers to use more and more renewable energy. —Noël Fletcher, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1