Michael Tobis wrote:
> Any carbon sequestration approach must operate at a substantial energy
> profit versus coal.
I have no idea what your logic is to justify this. The goal of carbon
capture from the air is to remove CO2 and reduce concentrations. This
is not an energy-producing activity. It is a geo-engineering activity,
which must be paid for but has no important product other than a
reduction of global CO2 levels. Discussing energy profits does not seem
even relevant.
As it happens, there is a mechanism for (theoretically) forcing coal
burners to reduce their net CO2 emissions. The EU ETS cap and trade
mechanism would allow people burning coal to compare the costs of dirty
coal with clean coal. It appears to be working because Centrica is
developing a full scale clean coal plant.
What is more, we can all help. If everyone on this list were to buy ETS
certificates and have them deleted from the system - perhaps as
Christmas presents - that would represent a few hundred tonnes of
carbon that would have to be not emitted, sequestered or paid for. If
everyone in the world bought one certificate per year (they currently
cost around 12 euros) then the capped industries of Europe would have
to emit zero carbon or pay a fine for every tonne they emit.
What would happen in practice is that the price would go up until it
exceeded the cost of the fine, although the company's cap would be
reduced in the following year as well.
So, as soon as I find a broker who is actually selling certificates -
rather than just promising to - I will be urging everyone I know to buy
them as Christmas presents for me, and buying them for them in return.
I would suggest you all do likewise.
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