Is carbon capture a real solution?

It's hard to deny the increased presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Hundreds of research studies by environmental scientists confirm their existence and are already noting the effects on the climate. Just ask inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere how the summer of 2022 went... It was a foretaste of what will happen in the coming years.

Successive reports from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) show that it is no longer a question of limiting change but rather of preventing catastrophic scenarios. Among their recommendations are several proposed solutions, including one geoengineering technique: carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Capture at the source

Billions of tons of carbon dioxide have been produced since the beginning of the 21st century alone. Scientists believe that by capturing some of it at the source of its production, it could be prevented from entering the atmosphere. Thus, captured whether before, during or after the combustion of a fossil fuel, it is converted into a mixture of hydrogen and compressed C02 in liquid form. This is then subsequently injected into emptied old oil and gas reservoirs or underground saline environments.

For economists, while the process is still a matter of debate, it is a solution for the future to bank on. It would allow for a smoother ecological transition while reducing the amount of greenhouse gases from industries. Moreover, the fossil fuel industry is even counting on this technology to improve financial returns and make up for losses from oil sources that will eventually dry up. The U.S. is banking on CCS in an environmental plan filed in 2022.

Many scientists are working on this solution, and it's showing in the news. In Iceland, the largest capture plant extracts 4,000 tons of CO2 a year. In Wyoming construction has begun on the Bison project, a huge facility that would capture 5 million tons. Especially since research is finding even more efficient methods to trap carbon dioxide and cut almost 100% of the emissions from some oil or coal industries.

A rather inefficient mirage

If scientists are trying to work on the efficiency of capture, it's because it's still unproven. A report released in early September 2022 by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) concluded that, for now, various initiatives are not working as expected. We would be very far from having found an effective method to remove a significant percentage of CO2 from the atmosphere. Certainly, advances are being made to capture carbon cheaply and more efficiently, but we are far from it. Recall that billions of tons of dioxide are emitted each year, and half of that from human activity.

The technique does not enjoy scientific consensus, quite the contrary. There are many debates on the usefulness of such a technology and especially the associated risks that are still unknown. What's more, it seems mostly a way to continue producing and consuming fossil fuels in an attempt to remove the guilt.

Except that everyone, including the IPCC, says that this technological approach will not be sufficient to avoid the catastrophic scenarios. Like it or not, having more sober energy consumption will always be better than CO2 storage. So we need more articles and research hammering home the need to consume differently and the importance of adopting more eco-friendly policies around the world.

Photo credit: en.depositphotos.com

References:

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