Is CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) really “economically unviable”? No, that’s an oversimplification. Right now, it’s true that the cost of capturing, transporting, and storing CO2 is relatively high, at around $40-$100 per ton. Adding to the cost and complexity is that we (currently) lack the infrastructure to support it on a huge scale. Building out the infrastructure would require significant investment. The investment doesn’t always come from private sectors, because the upfront costs of installing CCUS systems are high, especially where profit margins are already tight or regulatory pressure is insufficient to force investment in carbon mitigation.

The U.S. government has introduced incentives like the 45Q tax credit McNamee mentions above, which provides up to $87 per ton of CO2 captured and stored, to make CCUS more economically viable. This tax credit helps reduce the cost gap between current CCUS technologies and other carbon mitigation strategies. McNamee is proposing ending this.

Full contextual analysis of Section 3.3: Department of Energy and Related Commissions here.