Archive:000/Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS, or sometimes CCUS(...)( carbon capture, utilization and storage )) is an industrial process where CO₂ emissions are captured and stored deep in the Earth. This is a somewhat questionable approach to reducing climate change.

Capture

Direct air capture (DAC)

Trying to take CO₂ out of the air uses almost as much energy as you got when you burned the equivalent amount of fossil fuels in the first place. In other words, it's basically useless. (...)( Any amount of green energy used in DAC, could have been used in any other industry (in place of fossil fuels) and done more to stop climate change. )

Point source capture

Capturing the emissions at the source - this is viable for coal power plants, natural gas power plants, and some factories. It's not viable for cars or smaller sources.

Storage

CO₂ is pumped into rocks deep in the ground.^{[ELABORATION needed]} Hopefully this is stable and won't cause earthquakes or explosions at some point in the future.^{[RESEARCH needed]}

Utilization

The CO₂ is sometimes "used" before being stored. In practice, the only usage is for mining more oil & gas.^{[ELABORATION needed]}