AAAS Research: State and Outlook of Carbon Capture and Storage

American Academy for the Advancement of Science

Science 7 August 2015: 
Vol. 349 no. 6248 pp. 599-600 
DOI: 10.1126/science.349.6248.599-g

·         EDITORS' CHOICE

CLIMATE CHANGE

Whither carbon capture and storage?

1.        Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is widely considered an essential aspect of efforts to limit global warming. Yet efforts to develop CCS technology are progressing slowly, and no fullscale power plant with CCS is in operation. Maddali et al. analyze the costs and risks associated with CCS and model the effects of its delayed implementation using a dynamic nonlinear simulation tool. Based on a number of emissions and mitigation scenarios, the authors conclude that CCS is not sufficiently mature and, in its current form, is too expensive to contribute significantly to global climate change mitigation. Other mitigation strategies must therefore be developed urgently.

Environ. Sci. Technol. 10.1021/acs.est.5b00839 (2015).