Climate Politics
The Scientists Who Popularized Carbon Capture Have a Warning About It
Many countries are relying on it to meet their climate goals, but it might hurt more than help, they say.
Controls, valves, and cables surround a point-source carbon capture technology used to separate and sequester CO2.
Photographer: James MacDonald/BloombergBack in 2001, Kenneth Möllersten and Michael Obersteiner came up with a novel idea that transformed the math of carbon emissions — and the world’s path to net zero.
At the time, oil and gas companies were dabbling with capturing carbon from fossil fuels, a process that cut emissions from producing energy to nearly zero. By burning plants instead, the two researchers figured, the industry could generate energy with negative emissions: Those trapped in trees or other biofuels, minus those captured from burning them.