Green Options

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has the potential to cut global Co2 emissions dramatically. We’re talking huge cuts. It has been estimated that a plant implementing CCS can cut emissions by 80-90 percent compared with a plant that doesn’t use CCS. Sounds great, right? Well, there are some some problems.

Cost is the number one challenge that CCS faces. “Applying it would significantly increase the cost of electricity beyond what society is likely willing to pay,” said Sarah Forbes,  a World Resources Institute Senior Associate. Another challenge is that no fully integrated demonstrations have taken place. The pieces have been tested individually, but the entire puzzle is yet to be seen.

Forbes describes CCS and its current challenges in more detail:

Mom always said to take your vitamins, and now it looks like she was right.  A good dose of vitamin B12 could be the key to cleaning up thousands of sites contaminated by solvents, particularly industrial degreasers and dry cleaning chemicals known as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (perc).   These are two of the most common ground contaminants in the U.S., and when they get into aquifers, they are among the most difficult to remediate.  All that may be about to change.