{"id":383030,"date":"2025-06-12T20:32:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T18:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=383030"},"modified":"2025-06-12T20:32:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T18:32:33","slug":"carbon-capture-comes-crashing-down-again-a-comedy-in-subsidies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=383030","title":{"rendered":"Carbon Capture Comes Crashing Down (Again): A Comedy in Subsidies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Charles Rotter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you heard a distant wailing this week, don\u2019t worry\u2014it was just\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0realizing their beloved carbon capture techno-fantasy is, once again, face-planting in the real world. In a recent\u00a0Climate Forward<\/em>\u00a0newsletter piece titled\u00a0\u201cCarbon Capture Comes Back Down to Earth\u201d<\/a>, Times writer David Gelles practically had to mop his keyboard with tears over the news that the carbon removal market\u2014once projected to be a trillion-dollar juggernaut\u2014is now wheezing toward irrelevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/10\/climate\/carbon-capture-comes-back-down-to-earth.html<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not that we mind. After all, here at Watts Up With That<\/em>, we never bought into the carbon panic to begin with. CO2 isn\u2019t a pollutant\u2014it\u2019s plant food. But watching the climate-industrial complex flop around trying to vacuum molecules out of the sky is pure entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From \u201cThe Next Big Thing\u201d to Layoff Bingo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few months ago, the hype machine was at full throttle. Bill Gates was investing. Google, Amazon, and Airbus were snapping up \u201ccarbon credits\u201d like trendy NFTs. McKinsey\u2014ever the oracle of bad ideas\u2014declared carbon capture a $1.2 trillion market by 2050. One venture capitalist even called it \u201cthe single greatest opportunity I\u2019ve seen in 20 years.\u201d You almost have to admire the brazenness of the grift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward to now: 24 government grants worth $3.7 billion have been scrapped, Climeworks axed 22% of its staff, and permit applications have tanked. The \u201cmarket\u201d is imploding because\u2014brace yourself\u2014no one wants to fund something that doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Climeworks\u2019 headline-grabbing Iceland plant managed to remove only a sliver<\/em> of its projected CO2. Naturally, the execs blame \u201cramp-up issues.\u201d Of course they do. It\u2019s never the technology\u2019s fault\u2014it\u2019s always \u201cearly days\u201d or \u201ctransitional challenges.\u201d You\u2019d think they were launching a moon mission, not running industrial shop vacs for the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Laws of Physics Want a Word<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be crystal clear: carbon capture is a thermodynamic clown show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pulling CO2 from ambient air\u2014where it exists at a wispy 0.04%\u2014is like trying to find a particular grain of sand on a beach\u2026 using tweezers\u2026 while blindfolded. It takes more energy to remove CO2 from the air than was released burning the fossil fuel in the first place. And even then<\/em>, you still have to compress it, transport it, inject it underground, and pray it doesn\u2019t leak back out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t cutting-edge climate tech. It\u2019s an energy-intensive Rube Goldberg machine designed to appease green investors, virtue-signaling corporations, and bureaucrats allergic to basic physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus: It Boosts Oil Production!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now here\u2019s the kicker: the CO2 some of these companies do<\/em> manage to capture is often used for enhanced oil recovery<\/strong>. That\u2019s right\u2014after spending billions to \u201cfight climate change,\u201d the carbon is injected into wells to squeeze out even more oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yes, Occidental Petroleum\u2014the same company running a giant DAC project in Texas\u2014openly touts this as a feature, not a bug. The Times, ever reverent, quotes CEO Vicki Hollub promising that the project will help achieve \u201cenergy security\u201d and \u201cproduce vital resources and fuels.\u201d Translation: we\u2019re going to burn more hydrocarbons and call it green<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NYT\u2019s Tiny Violin Section<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really makes this article sing is the melodramatic tone. The author laments layoffs, canceled subsidies, and a \u201cretrenchment\u201d in the industry like it\u2019s some noble cause under siege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when the DOE finally did something rational\u2014canceling $3.7 billion in vaporware grants\u2014the Carbon Capture Coalition, which is about as unbiased as a pharma lobby, called it a \u201cmajor step backward.\u201d For whom? Rent-seeking climatepreneurs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Climeworks now admits they\u2019re going into \u201cconsolidation mode\u201d and focusing on \u201cefficiency.\u201d Translation: the gravy train is slowing, so it\u2019s time to pretend we\u2019re tightening belts while keeping the PR spigot open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Thoughts: Not Our Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be honest: the entire carbon capture craze was never about saving the planet. It was about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Making rich people feel less guilty about flying private.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Giving bureaucrats a talking point.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Creating a new market for companies like Microsoft to \u201coffset\u201d emissions without changing a single behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The NYT can whimper all it wants about Trump pulling the plug, but the real villain here is reality. Physics doesn\u2019t care about good intentions, ESG scores, or narrative arcs. It just keeps tallying the kilowatt-hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So while The Times continues wringing its hands over CO2 removal dreams deferred, we\u2019ll be here pointing, laughing, and perhaps warming ourselves with the comforting glow of all that wasted taxpayer cash being vaporized in yet another doomed climate gimmick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Coming Soon:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Direct Air Capture vs. a Leaf: Guess Which One Works Better<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Climate Grifters, Part VII: Where Are They Now?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Bill Gates\u2019 Carbon Unicorn: Anatomy of a Bad Idea<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      If you heard a distant wailing this week, don\u2019t worry\u2014it was just The New York Times realizing their beloved carbon capture techno-fantasy is, once again, face-planting in the real world. In a recent Climate Forward newsletter piece titled \u201cCarbon Capture Comes Back Down to Earth\u201d, Times writer David Gelles practically had to mop his keyboard with tears over the news that the carbon removal market\u2014once projected to be a trillion-dollar juggernaut\u2014is now wheezing toward irrelevance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":301916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691826940,691822903,691829997,691831280,691833730,691823788],"class_list":{"0":"post-383030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-capture","9":"tag-carbon-credits","10":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","11":"tag-climeworks","12":"tag-green-investors","13":"tag-the-new-york-times","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1399%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1BDU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":379633,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379633","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":0},"title":"DAC Dying? (\u201ccorporate theater wrapped in a green ribbon\u201d)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cRemoving CO\u2082 from ambient air is a thermodynamic slog,\u201d continues Barnard. \u201cThe concentration is a measly 0.04% \u2014 less than one molecule in 2,500.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\u00a0projects\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\u00a0projects","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-projects"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":273354,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=273354","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":1},"title":"Stop the Carbon Capture\u00a0Insanity","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In other words, we would need to find an underground location (or locations) able to swallow a volume equal to the contents of 41 oil supertankers each day, 365 days a year.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0carbon-cycle45.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0carbon-cycle45.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0carbon-cycle45.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0carbon-cycle45.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0carbon-cycle45.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":203372,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=203372","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":2},"title":"More on Energy Fantasy Versus Reality in Woke-Land","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"From the MANHATTAN CONTRARIAN Francis Menton It\u2019s official: the world is committed to rapidly reducing CO2 emissions. Just look at the the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, or President Biden\u2019s\u00a0April 22, 2021 press release, or\u00a0California\u2019s SB 100\u00a0climate act, or\u00a0New York\u2019s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or Germany\u2019s\u00a0Energiewende, or the UK\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-33.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-33.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-33.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-33.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":216090,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=216090","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":3},"title":"Wasting Money on Carbon Capture","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"For some, carbon capture and sequestration will remain the Holy Grail of carbon-reduction strategies.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1300.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1300.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1300.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1300.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1300.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338443,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338443","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":4},"title":"AEP\u2019s Carbon Capture\u00a0Fantasy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The clown still does not seem to understand that nobody in the world has yet managed to make carbon capture work commercially at scale, though he blames this on Britain making a dog\u2019s dinner of its grand ambitions for carbon capture.","rel":"","context":"In \"Carbon capture\"","block_context":{"text":"Carbon capture","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0GettyImages-1162106125-c123f3ddc29c4f738b91c08cbaa751fd.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":284818,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=284818","url_meta":{"origin":383030,"position":5},"title":"Navigator CO2 Ventures cancels carbon-capture pipeline project in US Midwest","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A\u00a0BlackRock Inc.-backed plan to build a pipeline that would capture carbon emissions from the US corn ethanol industry was scrapped in the face of regulatory obstacles and opposition from landowners. Another major CCS pipeline project proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions has also faced setbacks amid landowner concerns. From Watts Up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-666.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-666.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-666.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-666.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-666.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=383030"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383038,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383030\/revisions\/383038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/301916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}