http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080307.wcoessay0308/BNStory/specialCommentA win-win-win solution
DAVID KEITH AND THOMAS HOMER-DIXON
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
March 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
What should we do with the carbon we produce when we burn fossil fuels? Some experts say we should fight climate change by putting the carbon back underground, whence it came.
In late January, a blue-ribbon panel recommended that Canadian governments spend $2-billion to begin deploying carbon capture and storage technology (CCS). This technology injects the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels into exhausted oil and gas fields or salty aquifers deep underground.
As is true of any large-scale energy technology, CCS carries costs and risks. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's leading expert body on these topics, has estimated that CCS's costs are competitive with other leading ways to cut emissions and that its risks are small compared to those of related industries, such as underground storage of natural gas. CCS is not a magic bullet. But many climate and energy experts think that it's among humanity's best tools to control carbon emissions.
Yet almost all Canada's environmental groups panned the panel's recommendation. And these groups' opposition is clearly slowing CCS's development. Governments spend money to win the support of various interest groups, so they're reluctant to commit major funding to CCS — an environmental initiative — as long as environmental groups don't like it. In last week's budget, the federal government announced just $240-million in CCS funding, far less than previous support for biofuels and wind power.
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