Coal Sequestration: A Pipe Dream?

Is Capturing and Sequestering CO2 a Pipe Dream? By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, February 3, 2008. "It looks like it's going to be a long while before anyone knows... whether [carbon capture and sequestration is] possible at a scale that could meaningfully cut into the tens of billions of tons of CO2 slated to be released in coming decades by coal-rich countries led by the U.S. and China. An array of experts have been warning that current efforts... are grossly insufficient. And now one of the most vaunted projects, President Bush's FutureGen plan for an emissions-free coal-fired plant, has been overhauled in a way many say amounts to a dismantling and more delays. The budget was ballooning to close to twice the original $1 billion, so the new proposal is to have industry add carbon-capturing systems paid for by taxpayers... [at] commercial plants built by industry... Environmentalists say this [new approach] will surely set back construction years. Other plans are afoot... in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. But, again, scientists and energy experts see an enormous gap between the scale and timetable of such plans and the real-world, real-time expansion of coal burning... In December, I wrote that 'The Energy Future is Not Now,' as warning signs over FutureGen's prospects built. So when is it?