Christian Ecology Link prayer topic for today

Commercial deployment of pre-combustion carbon capture & storage (CCS) requires 90% more fresh water than in a conventional power station. Also, the chemical reactions of the scrubbing agents would increase the hazardous waste while CCS could exacerbate local environmental problems tied to the extraction and transport of coal, damage to waterways and air pollution. Yet viable alternatives already exist. The greenhouse emissions for electricity generated by solar thermal or wind power are just 2-3% of the amounts for coal-fired CCS plants, while the emissions generated by advanced gas-fired CHP stations are about the same. Cost estimates for CCS by 2020 are 35-50 euros per ton of CO2 – a 50% increase in electricity costs if one assumes no increase in fossil fuel prices. In the 15-20 years required for deployment of CCS, renewable technologies such as offshore wind and solar thermal power plants could already be offering cheaper electricity, so undermining the argument that CCS can be a “bridge” to renewable energy.