In a previous post I mentioned the Feds had abondoned the Carbon Caputure experiement. Billons were invested . . . but no conclusive results.
Why does Kentucky vision with the few millions allocated, Kentucky can find the discovery that the Federal Government and Private Enterprise have already spent on . . . trying to CAPTURE CARBON EMMISSIONS.
READ THIS .. .
CCS also poses a potential threat to health, ecosystems and the climate, the report argues. A big CO2 leak from CCS plants during storage or in transit could result in the asphyxiation of people or animals. Even small but ongoing leaks will negate the CCS process of limiting the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide also dissolves to form an acid. While it is unclear how severe these risks will be given that there is not yet an operational plant, they are potential hazards.
Rochon logs some now abandoned, but expensive, efforts to set up CCS plants in Norway and the US. FutureGen, the Bush administration’s flagship CCS project in the US, was hailed in 2003 as the first coal plant with near-zero emissions. Yet after delays and budget blow-outs the US government pulled the plug this January. The plant was supposed to be online in 2012, but never left the development phase.
FutureGen was a public-private project that included the US Department of Energy, American Electric and Power Service Corp, Anglo American, BHP Biliton, Rio Tinto and China’s largest coal-fired power company China Huaneng Group. Not only did the state of Illinois, where the plant was being built, chip in with a US$17 million grant, a sales tax exemption on building materials and $50 million for project loans, it passed laws to protect FutureGen from financial and legal liability in the event of an unanticipated release of CO2. The state government even agreed to indemnify FutureGen from lawsuits and to pay for its insurance policies, Rochon noted.
In 2007, the DOE reassessed the project after costs had risen by 85% in three years to $1.8 billion. “FutureGen collapsed despite being promised an unprecedented level of support: a total of $1.3 billion of public funds, and being shielded from any legal responsibility. The debacle should serve as a warning to governments and industry considering investing in CCS”, Rochon stated.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Also, I am not advocating any single 'answer' to this problem. I don't claim to be smart enough to offer a real-world solution. I just know that drilling in an Arctic Wildlife Refuge isn't the answer.
I suspect the real answer here is "anything but oil". Anything that keeps the US from propping up the Saudi regime can't be all that bad. We have a problem that is beyond the scientific. Beyond the artistic. Beyond the environmental. We have a problem that threatens our species. And that, my friend, is worth discussing...rather than bitching about online. And I didn't write that article. I just thought it had some valid points. Do you disagree with that? I'd love to hear the real retort if so.
-C