Here’s why carbon capture is no easy solution to climate change.

Carbon capture technology is central to the climate strategies of many world governments.

It is also expensive, unproven at scale, and can be hard to sell to a nervous public.

This currently makes the model of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from the air and storing them for money unworkable.

As nations gather for COP28 – the 28th United Nations climate change conference – in Dubai at the end of November, the question of carbon capture’s future role in a climate-friendly world will be in focus.

So where are we up to with carbon capture and what stands in the way of its widespread deployment?

What is carbon capture?

Carbon capture is a way of reducing carbon emissions by capturing them at the source or removing them from the atmosphere.

The most common form of carbon capture technology involves capturing the gas from a point source like an industrial smokestack. 

From there, the carbon can either be moved directly to permanent underground storage (CSS) or it can be used in another industrial purpose first – a process known as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

Another form of carbon capture is direct air capture (DAC), in which carbon emissions are captured from the air.

Read more: euronews.com

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