Capturing Carbon Emissions

In a recent United Nations report, scientists from around the globe warn that some severe impacts of climate change are inevitable and irreversible. Even if all nations immediately reduce carbon emissions, global temperatures will still rise, and extreme weather events will increase in frequency. Nations can avoid even worse outcomes, however, by drastically reducing carbon emissions and removing existing carbon from the atmosphere by 2050, the scientists conclude. The process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it elsewhere is known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). One version of carbon capture and sequestration consists of growing crops that consume and store carbon dioxide in the soil, such as cereals and legumes. President Joseph R. Biden’s plan for reducing greenhouse gases includes creating financial incentives for farmers to implement this technique. But as the Biden Administration has realized, paying farmers to combat climate change is complicated. The federal government might not be able to pay farmers enough to offset the cost of enabling their farms to capture carbon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has requested public comments on how it can implement such incentives. A more complicated method of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—known as CCS technology—physically captures the carbon dioxide that industrial and power plants generate before it can enter the atmosphere. The captured carbon dioxide is then transported and stored deep underground. Despite CCS technology’s potential to combat climate change, its widespread implementation presents a variety of challenges. The technology used to capture carbon dioxide generated by industrial plants is new and difficult to implement at a scale that would significantly reduce carbon emissions. Currently, CCS technology only captures a fraction of the carbon emitted from power plants—approximately 40 million metric tons per year of carbon globally. The United States emits over 5 billion tons of carbon per year alone. Furthermore, the technology needed to compress, capture, and transport carbon dioxide is expensive and can decrease the efficiency of industrial plants. Transporting carbon dioxide can also lead to dangerous leaks and explosions. In addition, some critics view CCS technology as a way to prolong dependence on fossil fuels. They instead prefer to encourage policymakers to focus on developing clean sources of energy. But if nations seek to avoid climate disaster, they might need CCS technology to capture enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This week’s Saturday Seminar focuses on the current barriers to scaling CCS and potential steps toward comprehensive regulation