Anyone selling carbon capture is a moron who doesn't understand the laws of thermodynamics, is counting on making enough money pretending they dont exist to do so, or thinks you're too stupid to understand them.
Capturing carbon is a reduction in entropy. it requires using more energy than was released when that carbon dioxide was created. That is, you must burn a ton and a half of coal to clean up the carbon of one ton of coal.
Its why the ass end of your air conditioner is outside your house. if both ends were inside, the hot end would put out more heat than the cold end removes, and your room would get hotter, rather than colder.
They get around this by saying they use renewables to get their ton and a half of coal's worth of energy. Ok. Sure. You could also use that ton and a half worth of energy to *displace the use of a ton and a half of coal on the grid*.
In that case, one ton of carbon stays kn the air and one and a half ton does not get released, for a net of negative one half ton. Instead, that ton and a half pulls one ton out of the air, and coal plants around the country burn a ton and a half to provide the power that renewable could usefully be putting on the grid. For a net of positive a half ton, or a difference of a full ton of coal.
The only -only!- way carbon capture makes sense other than as a shiny object for capital tondistract well meaning but technically unsophisticated citizens with is if every watt of renewables is used to displace carbon until there are no fossil fuels being burnt -anywhere-. and THEN you build a bunch of renewable power infrastructure surplus to requirements, and run it, unprofitably, because theres no product to sell, to pull carbon out of the air. This being completely anathema to several massive industries and the profit motive in general means it will never happen without worldwide socialist revolution.
Just a thought for next time your basement gets flooded or a hurricane pulls your roof off. Probably gonna need to occupy some government buildings, at least, if thats the kind of thing you would like to not keep happening, more frequently and more severely.
MR WRONG: Carbon footprint
physicist here:
Anyone selling carbon capture is a moron who doesn't understand the laws of thermodynamics, is counting on making enough money pretending they dont exist to do so, or thinks you're too stupid to understand them.
Capturing carbon is a reduction in entropy. it requires using more energy than was released when that carbon dioxide was created. That is, you must burn a ton and a half of coal to clean up the carbon of one ton of coal.
Its why the ass end of your air conditioner is outside your house. if both ends were inside, the hot end would put out more heat than the cold end removes, and your room would get hotter, rather than colder.
They get around this by saying they use renewables to get their ton and a half of coal's worth of energy. Ok. Sure. You could also use that ton and a half worth of energy to *displace the use of a ton and a half of coal on the grid*.
In that case, one ton of carbon stays kn the air and one and a half ton does not get released, for a net of negative one half ton. Instead, that ton and a half pulls one ton out of the air, and coal plants around the country burn a ton and a half to provide the power that renewable could usefully be putting on the grid. For a net of positive a half ton, or a difference of a full ton of coal.
The only -only!- way carbon capture makes sense other than as a shiny object for capital tondistract well meaning but technically unsophisticated citizens with is if every watt of renewables is used to displace carbon until there are no fossil fuels being burnt -anywhere-. and THEN you build a bunch of renewable power infrastructure surplus to requirements, and run it, unprofitably, because theres no product to sell, to pull carbon out of the air. This being completely anathema to several massive industries and the profit motive in general means it will never happen without worldwide socialist revolution.
Just a thought for next time your basement gets flooded or a hurricane pulls your roof off. Probably gonna need to occupy some government buildings, at least, if thats the kind of thing you would like to not keep happening, more frequently and more severely.