From Derek Bolton
Your otherwise informative “Instant expert” article about new technologies for carbon capture (2 April) missed some important numbers.
For instance, how much is each technology likely, when mature, to add to the cost of a unit of electricity? And how does that compare with wind and solar?
If we decide we need to cut emissions by 50 per cent in 10 years, can we rule out building new capture-ready coal-fired plants? Is expensive retrofitting the main option?
The article also mentions capturing with algae to produce biomass, most likely as fuel for transport, but as the carbon emitted from vehicles could not be recaptured this would constitute only a single reuse. For maximal benefit, it would have to provide fuel for reuse at the power plant, and we are a very long way from that being viable.
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Sydney, Australia
