Does cutting off CO2 make electricity even more expensive?
Capturing and storing CO2 could reduce the impact of climate change. But the technology is controversial. Because the so-called carbon capture may also drive up electricity prices.
In order to reduce our ecological footprint, we have to change our lives in many areas. One industry with a high impact is and will remain the energy sector. Because if we cover our daily electricity needs from sun, water and wind, we hardly produce any emissions.
But it may still be some time before the world can meet its needs exclusively from renewable energies. Many experts therefore see the removal of Co2 from the atmosphere as an interim solution – so-called caron capture.
Large machines are installed at emission sources that absorb the CO2 directly at the production site and pump it into the ground, for example. As a result, coal-fired electricity would also be climate-neutral in a certain way.
Carbon capture could drive up electricity prices
The downside: The hidden costs behind the technology. A new report by the non-profit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) now makes it clear to what extent carbon capture could influence our electricity costs. Compared to the sustainable alternatives, coal power would be about 1.5 to 2 times more expensive.
Also, the motives behind the technology may differ. Industry could also pump CO2 into the ground to release hard-to-reach oil reserves. At this “improved oil recovery” the CO2 creates an overpressure, which is why the remaining oil bubbles to the surface. This can then be sold as climate-neutral oil.
Carbon deposition is developing into a million-dollar grave
To date, carbon capture projects have rarely been successful. The US Department of Energy has already sunk several hundred million US dollars into such projects without having found a solution. Because if you look at the lifetime of a power plant and the costs of a carbon capture system, the relationship is not right.
Compared to sustainable energy sources such as wind or the sun, the experts came up with a price premium of 50 to 100 percent. They therefore recommend investing more money in the expansion of a more sustainable energy infrastructure. Because sticking to fossil fuels doesn’t seem much more ineffective.
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