How Much Energy Would It Take to Pull Carbon Dioxide out of the Air?
How Much Energy Would It Take to Pull Carbon Dioxide out of the Air?
A physicist runs the math on direct air capture and warns: This tech won't save us from climate catastrophe.
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Carbon capture makes much more sense directly on smokestacks and other industry waste outputs, but then how do businesses make taxpayers fund it?
Idk, I just feel like it’s 1. A cop out. We need to reduce emissions and not put our eggs in one basket. And 2. In its infancy. The tech isn’t efficient enough yet to be rolled out imo
I think we should pursue it for the future, but it shouldn't be taking funding that could be used for more immediate solutions or used as a distraction / delay tactic (although of course it will).
I disagree. I think we should:
- Pilot it to prove the cost
- Charge a carbon tax based loosely on that number and (high) estimates for the amount of carbon emitted
- Return the carbon tax to the public as a credit
This keeps the tax revenue neutral (i.e. theoretically no hit to GDP) while encouraging companies to find cheaper ways to reduce carbon emissions or capture carbon to offset emissions.
If it's ineffective at reducing emissions, then start spending a portion of it to remove carbon.
Preventing additional carbon emissions doesn't decrease what's already in the atmosphere. We would need some form of carbon capture even if we stopped all emissions today.