Answer: Carbon dioxide (CO2) that is removed from an emissions source and then ‘sequestered’ from the atmosphere doesn’t contribute to global warming or ocean acidification. [1] That’s why current carbon tax proposals [2] provide carbon fee refunds or credits for fossil-derived CO2 that is captured and sequestered. Operators of the sequestration sites must guarantee the safety and permanence of their CO2 storage. This concept has been labeled in different ways – ‘carbon capture’ or ‘CO2 capture’ for the first step, and ‘storage’ or ‘sequestration’ for the second. They all mean the same thing, and in all cases may be shortened to ‘CCS’. The source of the CO2 could be a power plant, a refinery, a chemical plant, or any fossil-fueled source where CO2 would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere. Scrubbing CO2 out of industrial gases is widely used for engineering purposes, [3] and limited amounts are currently pumped underground into oil wells for ‘enhanced oil recovery,’ [4] but CCS had not been deployed at commercial scale solely to keep it out of the atmosphere, because there was no financial incentive for doing so until a new tax credit called the ‘45Q’ credit was started in 2018. [5] Potential destinations for large amounts of CO2 are in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or deep underground formations where it gradually combines with existing minerals. [6] Recent research has also shown that a common rock called basalt can react with CO2 more quickly than previously expected. [7] Many studies of potential routes to decarbonization, including ones from Columbia University, [8] the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, [9] and the World Bank, [10] consider CCS as one of the technology options likely to be needed to play some role. If done safely and permanently, CCS can help cut emissions while facilitating an orderly transition away from fossil energy. This page was updated on 05/23/22 at 18:43 CDT.Carbon Capture and Storage Laser Talk
Question: How does carbon capture and storage fit into a carbon fee policy?
Carbon Capture and Storage
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