In Carbon Sequestration R&D Overview The US DoE says:
Using present technology, estimates of carbon sequestration costs are in the range of $100 to $300 per ton of carbon emissions avoided. The goal of the program is to reduce the cost of carbon sequestration to $10 or less per net ton of carbon emissions avoided by 2015.
McKinsey and Company says the DoE is, well, let’s say optimistic. In their study, Carbon Capture & Storage: Assessing the Economics, McKinsey & Company says that by 2030 carbon capture and storage (CCS) costs should come down to around $43 to $65 per tonne of CO2 abated. According to the report, CCS demonstration projects will have a significantly higher cost of $86 to $135 per tonne. Early full commercial-scale CCS projects—potentially to be built soon after 2020—are estimated to cost $43 to $65/tonne CO2 abated.
Of course it’s expensive. It has to be. The basic idea of fossil fuel is we take hydrocarbons out of the ground, and burn them, releasing energy. The problem, which we have just recently noticed, inconvenient as it is, is that the second law of thermodynamics applies. “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” While we are burning coal, oil, and gas, and using some of the energy, we are creating carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, and other stuff. Every pound of carbon in every gallon of gasoline and every lump of coal, becomes a pound of carbon in the atmosphere. There’s also mercury in coal. Nuclear power produces no carbon during the power generation phase, but when you factor in the fuel and waste management cycles, the environmental footprints are enormous.
We can have power with ZERO Carbon Emissions: “The answer,” as Bob Dylan once said, “is blowin’ in the wind.” With solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro, with clean, sustainable energy systems, we HARNESS APROCESS rather than CONSUME A RESOURCE. With conservation, “Negawatts,” we use less energy, on an ongoing basis. The carbon emissions avoided cost is $ZERO. There is no carbon released into the atmosphere. No Fuel. No Fire. No Smoke. No Radioactive Wastes. No Mercury.