In the fight against climate change, carbon capture technology, where carbon dioxide is sucked out of the atmosphere, has become an increasingly hot topic. However, the most significant drawback of the technology is the energy required, reports The Washington Post.
Despite carbon dioxide's effect on climate change, the greenhouse gas only makes up 0.04 percent of ambient air, making its extraction very energy intensive and challenging. The entire capture process would be futile if it required energy from greenhouse gases to operate.
Fervo Energy, a company based in Houston, Texas is hoping to harvest geothermal energy from Earth's crust. Drilling just one to two miles below the earth's crust can provide access to temperatures over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit where water can be pumped and converted to steam-powered electricity, the Post continues. "You have to have your energy from a carbon-free source," said Timothy Latimer, the CEO of Fervo Energy. "Geothermal is a great match."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Geothermal plants can both produce electricity and be used to capture carbon because electricity production always leaves residual heat at approximately 212 degrees, ideal for capturing carbon. "It's a totally unexplored place," Latimer said. "What would you do differently in the design of a geothermal power plant if you knew you were pairing it with a direct air capture facility?"
Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have emphasized how carbon capture will be needed to meet climate coals, predicting that ten gigatons per year of carbon need to be removed per year through 2050, and even more after. "We are not waiting for the year 2100. We are not waiting for the year 2050," said Philip Jakpor, director of programs nonprofit Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa. "We believe the time for action should be now."
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Sudoku medium: August 23, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
NASA is moving away from tracking climate changeThe Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
What would happen to Earth if humans went extinct?The Explainer Human extinction could potentially give rise to new species and climates
-
Bacteria can turn plastic waste into a painkillerUnder the radar The process could be a solution to plastic pollution
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
