The New, Uncertain Climate Change Strategy: Direct Carbon Capture
The United States is spending more than $3 billion to fight against climate change. But the government isn’t going to use this money for reducing emissions, replacing aging power plants, embracing nuclear fuel, or requiring that more energy come from renewable sources.
Instead, this funding is going to a new strategy that has many scientists concerned — but fossil fuel companies love.
If you asked an eight-year-old how to solve the problem of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, they might recommend sucking it up with a big vacuum. And that, essentially, is a large part of the new U.S. strategy. It’s called direct air capture.
One of the biggest contributors to man-made climate change is the increasing level of carbon dioxide in the air. We produce carbon dioxide each time we exhale, but far more comes from emissions as a result of burning fossil fuels. It’s produced by gasoline and diesel powered cars, and by coal, oil, and gas burning power plants that generate electricity.
Before the industrial age, carbon dioxide was removed from the atmosphere by plants; they take the gas in through their leaves, use the carbon to fuel their growth, and release the oxygen.
Direct air capture nixes plants from the equation. Instead, it helps store carbon through the following steps:
0 Comments