Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

__Sotto_Voce__ t1_iufofl0 wrote

Reply to comment by Splatter_1 in Current climate pledges have us heading for a world that is 2.4 to 2.6°C hotter | UN Environment Program report finds that the international community is still falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. by imrussellcrowe

Running a carbon capture system is incredibly energy-intensive — it essentially requires building a new power plant to run the system, which would create another new source of air and carbon pollution. That undermines the whole goal of capturing carbon in the first place. While our country emits roughly 5 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year, removing 1 billion tons of that through direct air capture would require nearly the entire electricity output of the United States.

We need something like a fusion power breakthrough to make it work.

It’s also important to consider the scale of what would be needed. The Energy Department recently announced $12 million to fund ‘direct air capture’ projects and touted the possible removal of 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. To put this in perspective, the largest corporate polluter in 2018 was responsible for releasing 119 million tons of CO2 equivalent — and that’s only one of them.

3

Splatter_1 t1_iuforo7 wrote

Would work if nuclear powered. Say wonder why we dont have more nuclear power plants?

1

__Sotto_Voce__ t1_iug617s wrote

Fission? I guess it's possible, but I think there are still problems. Fusion would work better at that scale if we could build reactors that actually work cleanly.

1

Splatter_1 t1_iuhh6mc wrote

Fission is pretty clean as long as it doesn't have a massive meltdown and toxic waste is disposed of properly. Also did you know coal apparently produces more radiation than a fission plant does?

1

__Sotto_Voce__ t1_iuiwlex wrote

I am aware of the properties of fission nuclear reactors. Something I would encourage you to consider is the scale that would be needed. Look at the proposition critically and serious challenges emerge.

I wouldn't describe my perspective on this approach to be hopeful. We need serious advances on multiple fronts to even make a dent in carbon emissions with capturing systems, and these advances need to happen quickly and enable rapid scaling.

1