Why carbon capture is the real bottleneck in climate tech

The article highlights that while carbon storage capacity is expanding and technologically ready, the primary bottleneck in climate tech lies in the insufficient rate of carbon capture. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a three-step process involving capturing CO2 emissions from industrial sources like power plants, cement, and steel factories, transporting the compressed CO2, and permanently storing it underground. Experts emphasize that CCS is crucial for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and enabling carbon dioxide removal technologies such as Bio-Energy with CCS and Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage. However, despite the growing storage infrastructure, the volume of CO2 being captured remains inadequate to meet storage potential. The challenges in scaling carbon capture include high energy consumption, inflexibility with varying industrial loads, expensive infrastructure, and health and safety concerns related to chemical degradation. These factors contribute to slow deployment and limited adaptability of capture technologies, especially for industrial emissions with dilute CO2 concentrations. Both Sarah Saltzer of Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and Jean-