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

From my perspective, these are likely driven, in part, by climate litigation and activist campaigns pressuring management boards to decarbonize. —Joash Lee, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024

Many leading automakers announced aggressive electrification pledges as lawmakers pushed to decarbonize transportation through subsidies and pending bans on combustion-engine vehicles. —Ben Kesslen, Quartz, 4 Sep. 2024

The company, founded this year, has a focus on using its AI models to help decarbonize industrial chemicals. —Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 4 Sep. 2024

In the quest to decarbonize the world, one element gets a lot of hype: hydrogen. —Marta Abbà, WIRED, 20 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1