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Articles on Carbon capture

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Power plants contribute a quarter of the United States’ climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Howard C via Getty images

EPA’s crackdown on power plant emissions is a big first step – but without strong certification, it will be hard to ensure captured carbon stays put

Fossil fuel power plants can avoid most emissions by capturing carbon dioxide and pumping it underground. But to be a climate solution, that carbon has to stay stored for thousands of years.
A large robot, loaded with sensors and cameras, designed to explore the ocean twilight zone. Marine Imaging Technologies, LLC © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Scientists envision an ‘internet of the ocean,’ with sensors and autonomous vehicles that can explore the deep sea and monitor its vital signs

The ocean twilight zone could store vast amounts of carbon captured from the atmosphere, but first we need a 4D monitoring system to ensure ramping up carbon storage does no harm.
This direct air capture plant in Iceland was designed to capture 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Climeworks 2021 via AP Photos

How not to solve the climate change problem

A climate scientist looks at what works and some popular ideas that aren’t as cheap or effective as people hope.
The U.S. had seven operating offshore wind turbines with 42 megawatts of capacity in 2021. The Biden administration’s goal is 30,000 megawatts by 2030. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term – using energy that would otherwise go to waste

Wind turbines often can produce more power than is needed for electricity onshore. That extra energy could be put to work capturing and storing carbon.
One ‘mechanical tree’ is about 1,000 times faster at removing carbon dioxide from air than a natural tree. The first is to start operating in Arizona in 2022. Illustration via Arizona State University

These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works

Klaus Lackner is finding new ways to cut the technology’s high costs and energy demand, and he’s about to launch the first ‘mechanical tree’.
Most carbon dioxide captured in the U.S. today is used to extract more oil. Citizens of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Why the oil industry’s pivot to carbon capture and storage – while it keeps on drilling – isn’t a climate change solution

Most carbon dioxide captured in the U.S. today is used to extract more oil. Two scholars point to another way: biological sequestration.
Consumer decisions could play a critical role in dealing with climate change. A study gauging perceptions was published May 13, 2021. FotographiaBasica via Getty Images

Using captured CO₂ in everyday products could help fight climate change, but will consumers want them?

A large-scale survey asked people exactly that. One use of recycled carbon dioxide stood out.

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