Last month the Bush administration released its economic report, outlining the projected costs of renewable energy in the year 2015, as compared to the price of conventional and advanced coal-fired generation.
The report projects the per-megawatt-hour cost of coal-fired power with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at $84. However, the technology has yet to be tested on a large scale, and the administration last month ditched FutureGen–the centerpiece of the Department of Energy’s clean coal technology program.
So where did the $84 price tag come from? Perhaps Canada, where the federal government is funding CCS trial projects. However, according to Globe and Mail reporter Bruce Cox, even the coal industry’s predictions don’t foresee carbon capture and storage becoming commercially viable before 2020 or 2030–well past the 2015 deadline scientists say we must meet for the peak of greenhouse gas emissions.
Read the full explanation: "Why Carbon Capture Is an Illusion."
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