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The promises of Carbon Capture & Storage

  • by JW

“A handy excuse to delay reform and protect the profitability of powerful sectors of the economy.” [The Conversation]

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The US government is getting into CSS: Biden Administration Ready to Accelerate Carbon Capture Technologies with $2B-Plus in Funding – Natural Gas Intelligence

The UK government is a bit annoyed at this: UK chancellor swipes at Biden’s ‘massively distortive’ Inflation Reduction Act – POLITICO

And yet it’s also getting into CCS big time: Grant Shapps says tapping into carbon capture trillions ‘will power up Britain’ | Nature | News | Express.co.uk

But not everyone is convinced: “The UK government will defy scientific doubts to place a massive bet on technology to capture and store carbon dioxide in undersea caverns, to enable an expansion of oil and gas in the North Sea.” UK government gambles on carbon capture and storage tech despite scientists’ doubts | Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | The Guardian

The big producers of CO2 are being targetted: UK Turns to Big Oil Companies in £20 Billion Carbon Capture Push – Bloomberg

This huge power station won’t be getting the government subsidies, however: UK energy strategy casts doubt on Drax’s carbon capture project | Drax | The Guardian

Is this not greenwashing? “When the political economy in which climate policy making happens is considered, the repeated role of CCS so far is revealed: a handy excuse to delay reform and protect the profitability of powerful sectors of the economy.” Does carbon capture and storage hype delay emissions cuts? Here’s what research shows

This point has been made many a time: Climate tech to save the planet: Techno-optimism or greenwashing? | Financial Times and The Great Carbon Capture Scam — Rex Weyler – Greenpeace International and Why carbon capture and storage technologies represent a new form of greenwashing

As this piece of political satire from Australia also suggests:

“The Australien Government has made an ad about Carbon Capture and Storage, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.” Honest Government Ad | Carbon Capture & Storage – YouTube

As covered on these pages back in October 2021: Climate change: and the ‘magical thinking’ of carbon capture – Vision Group for Sidmouth

And from November 2017: Futures Forum: Climate change >>> Engineering the climate >>> ‘As a technology of last resort, carbon removal is paradoxical. It may be impossible to manage and it may also be impossible to manage without.’

And from June 2016: Futures Forum: Climate change: will Carbon Capture and Storage be the techno-fix to ‘unlock’ unburnable fossil fuels?