There’s a carbon-capture gold rush. Some warn better solutions exist.
In White House halls, Davos conference rooms and billionaires’ Twitter feeds, one climate change solution is gaining traction: carbon-capture technology.
In recent months, the Biden administration, Elon Musk and companies such as Alphabet and Meta have poured millions — in some cases, billions — into investment funds, research proposals, grant opportunities and competitions to develop the method. Scientists argue carbon capture, which takes carbon dioxide from the air and stores it deep underground, has the potential to quickly slow Earth’s rapidly warming climate.
The method takes multiple forms. One attaches industrial plants to factories, reusing or transporting carbon emitted directly from smokestacks. A more experimental version envisions large facilities that could capture air, remove the carbon dioxide and store it underground. Others propose using mine waste, algae farms or bio waste to decrease emissions.
Related Knowledge Center: Carbon capture
The federal government is investing heavily in the development of carbon capture and storage (or sequestration), which offers the enticing prospect of preventing carbon dioxide emissions produced during combustion from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. But the technologies involved, while proven, remain expensive, an obstacle to widespread adoption.