Oh fuck it, thread time.
Inspired in a way by a certain long discussion by a well known Sci-fi author about the announcement of a Nuclear powered container ship from China. I wanna talk about "technology won't save us" When it comes to climate change.
"Technology won't save us" is the usual refrain when someone mentions Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is often touted by the fossil fuel industry as a way of us being able to keep burning dinosaurs. Continue our lives unchanged...
1/n
so we can continue the lifestyles to which we have become accustomed. Alas, for all the talk of CCS in the last couple of decades, it's never come to pass. At least not at a large scale, not capturing 100% of emissions from that which it is fitted. And it doesn't work on mobile emitters like trucks and ships. CCS is a bit like a disability dongle, but for fossil fuel companies.
BUT, and here comes the but. There are some technologies, which we are going to need if we are to have a hope...
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@quixoticgeek you're not wrong that CCS is being promoted this way *today*, but it's also one way we can claw back some of past emissions over time after doing the really hard work of transitioning fuel sources (and using less power in general). Funding right now is nudging along the science/engineering so maybe it can be ready when we need it.
@mburtonkelly Stuff already in the atmosphere ain't gonna be got with CCS. That's direct air capture you're thinking of, and currently we have enough of that deployed to counteract one billionaire's annual emissions.
CCS is being used as an excuse to keep coal plants open. "It'll be fine, in 5 years we'll add CCS!" yes, but what about during those 5 years?
DAC is something we will need, but it should not be relied upon as a means to allow us to keep burning dinosaurs.
@mburtonkelly Yep. I just don't want people seeing DAC and CCS as a way that we can keep burning fossil fuels. We can't. We have to divest ourselves of fossil fuels completely.
@quixoticgeek DAC is great, but you need to put the CO2 somewhere. That's the "S" in CCS. I do appreciate the distinction, but as a geologist, the capture part is a different box. Will keep this in mind in the future.
Agree completely on your last sentence.