Carbon Capture and Storage

Unnecessary and dangerous

February 2015

A licence to pollute

Electricity generation using fossil fuels and carbon capture and storage (EFF-CCS) will not be deployed at significant scale, is not a viable way to mitigate climate disruption, and is unnecessary and dangerous. Hopes that EFF-CCS might one day be successful are not a reason to delay Australia’s or any other country’s urgent transition away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy.

False claims, false hope

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been promised for many years and is the favoured option of fossil fuel companies. These companies have used the promise of CCS to: delay the development of renewable energy, offer hope to the coal industry, and delay action on climate change. The reality is - renewable energy is already cost-competitive – in some instances cheaper – than new-build fossil fuel generators.

False claims, false hope

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Why CCS is not a solution:

The technology is slow to develop, with unresolved limitations and uncertainties
Underground storage of CO2 is not understood well enough, and there are no cases of permanent CO2 storage
CCS itself consumes a large amount of energy
The costs of CCS are going up (while renewable energy costs fall)
CCS can only happen at an enormous scale with high expense and challenging to deploy
Proponents are finding it difficult to obtain social license and financing due to the damage caused by mining and climate change.
Governments and industry are withdrawing support from CCS
CCS delays the urgent transition away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy in Australia and in all countries of the world.

Hopes that EFF-CCS might one day be successful are not a reason to delay Australia’s or any other country’s urgent transition away from fossil fuels and to 100% renewable energy.

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