What's next: Carbon capture and storage

Since there are no immediate economic alternatives to CO2 causing manufacturing processes, an attempt is being made to capture the CO2 at the point where it is produced instead of sending it into the atmosphere. This is a very expensive process. For example, fitting a coal burning power station with equipment to strip the CO2 from flue gases is estimated to cost close to $2 billion and will use up 40 percent of the power produced. Pipelines to transport CO2 to safe storage sites will cost close to $1.7 million per kilometer. Despite these impossible costs, several projects are under way round the world to capture and store CO2 with billions of dollars being spent. This is because the potential costs of disruptive climate change will be even higher.