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In a U.S. First, a Commercial Plant Starts Pulling Carbon From the Air
(www.nytimes.com)
To be clear: carbon capture like this is a tiny and expensive part of what needs doing over the next few years
It's getting a lot of support and publicity in large part because it's backed by the oil industry, which is trying to create social permission for continued extraction and burning on a much larger scale than the removal.
Carbon capture is such a stupid concept.
We burn carbon to make electricity.
Then we take that electricity to power big fucking fans to pull the carbon we just burned out of the air. And use more electricity to cool down and pump that carbon into storage. If you wanted to capture just the CO2 we produce every year, you’d essentially double the cost of energy, because half the energy we make would have to go to storing the waste from harnessing that energy in the first place.
Carbon capture doesn’t do anything until we stop using fossil fuels at current levels. It’s like trying to drain a lake with a bucket while it’s raining.
It may not do much right now, but it is important to start the work on it now, for a few reasons.
One, every little bit helps. We have doubled the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution, and removing any of it is a good thing. Even if we stopped all carbon emissions today, we can't leave things the way they are, we would still need to remove that carbon from the air.
Two, these types of technologies need time and real-life demonstration to improve upon. If we wait to start working on carbon capture until we become carbon neutral, then we will not have carbon capture technology that will make a meaningful difference when we need it most.
I agree we need to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, and that there are a lot of people who want to use carbon capture as a complete alternative to switching to renewable energy. But we can't afford to wait, so we should support any company that is working towards improving our current situation.
You’re right, next time I see a house on fire I’ll be sure to head over with a glass of water to “help”
Eventually I might research the bucket and be able to help more
Carbon capture is more like chest compressions done by someone who isn't a medical professional while you wait for an ambulance. It isn't a replacement, by a long shot, but you can both provide limited assistance now and ask for better assistance.
Also, not sure why you say 'eventually' when we are already implementing several solutions to eliminate fossil fuels across the globe. I agree we aren't doing enough, but to act like putting effort into carbon capture is useless is acting in bad faith, because the only argument you have is that you are letting perfect be the enemy of good.