Carbon capture is having a moment, and it’s not hard to see why: As Texas Monthly reports, “the worldwide carbon-capture market is expected to grow from about $2 billion this year to about $7 billion in 2028.”
Last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law devotes billions to advancing the technology, and the new Senator Joe Manchin-approved climate compromise bill would do more to bolster the industry. Meanwhile, atmospheric CO2 levels have now reached their highest levels in human history, and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, which limits the federal government’s power to reduce climate pollution, is making techno-fixes all the more appealing.
There’s just one problem: There is no real evidence that carbon capture can or will do what its optimistic name suggests.