The Big Business of Burying Carbon

But it’s one thing to be able to pull carbon out of the air and quite another to be able to pull this off at scale. Burning fossil fuels generates energy. Capturing CO2 from the air requires energy. So long as this energy comes from burning fossil fuels, it will add to the carbon that has to be captured. A second major challenge is disposal. Once c

Carbon dioxide removal may be essential; it’s already built into the calculations of the IPCC. Under the current order, however, it’s also economically infeasible. How do you go about creating a $100 billion industry for a product no one wants to buy? The eggplants and the Snack-Gurken represented an admittedly jury-rigged solution. By selling its

Reforestation, when combined with underground injection, yields a technique that’s become known as BECCS (pronounced “becks”), short for “bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.” The models employed by the IPCC are extremely partial to BECCS, which offers negative emissions and electrical power at the same time—a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too ar

A third part of the work involves carbon capture and geological injection underground, into rock formations where it can be stored safely for millennia.