False Solutions

NOTE: CCS stands for Carbon Capture and Storage

9/18/25 New article titled The Mammoth Failure of Direct Air Capture

9/5/25 New scientific article about how the capacity of the earth to store captured carbon has been grossly overrated

5/18/25 Ocean Iron Fertilization does not seem to be the “silver bullet” it is billed as. Here are two links.

This colloquium describing the research on OIF from experiments.
Also, listen to this scientist who describes experiments with OIF in the Southern Ocean.

5/18/25 The giant “direct air capture” plant in Iceland, designed to filter CO2 out of the air, has always been hopelessly expensive. But it also is failing to capture enough carbon dioxide to cover its own emissions—that is, it’s making the problem worse. Reykjavik’s weekly newspaper Heimildin had the data.

4/18/25 En-Roads – recording of presentation about the huge cost and minimal value of CCS

4/7/25 Complete series of Webinars from Climate Central, Ca Env Votes & Project 2030

4/3/25 recording of Part 2: Organizing Against Climate Scams in CA

3/27/25 materials from “True Cost of Carbon Capture” webinar including Mark Jacobson (skip first 5 mins!)

Copy of The True Cost of CCS Download

Rev 1 Schlissel – The True Cost of CCS [Autosaved]Download

3/21/25 En-roads (Climate Interactive) webinar on CCS – recording (skip first 3 mins)

Latest En-ROADS update, including CCS, webinar slides

3/25/25 More on CCS Problems

2/25/25 Safety rules for Big Oil’s CO2 pipelines in limbo

2/12/25 Update on the severe problems of Biomass/wood pellet projects

1/29/25 Video of Webinar on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent as it relates to CO2 and communities

8/20/24 Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change? detailed article by Scientific American includes the Tracy Heirloom project

9/13/24 First US CO2 injection well leaks violating permit — EPA

8/29/24 Video about the Problems of Carbon Storage 28 mins

7/12 New Article about CCS (aka CCUS)

7/9 Video about the disastrous CO2 leak at Satartia Mississippi (7mins)

4/18/24 New critique from Food and Water Watch

4/2/24 Good news – The proposed biomass + CCS facility called San Joaquin Renewables has withdrawn its application with EPA Region 9! (The project first proposed injecting CO2 near McFarland residents and wanted to open a new 23MW fossil fuel power plant to run its operations, among other things.) CCEJN played a critical role educating and meeting with residents, reporters, and decision makers.

second article on this 4/5/24

3/27/24 Proposed Wood Pellet Plant is bad for Stockton and the planet

3/21/24 “Natural Hydrogen” – this one may be good news

3/20/24 CCS WEbinar

Here is a link to the webinar recording, enter passcode: &r6Xp?@T

Additional details in this report The Carbon Capture Crux

3/18/24 Video of CCS presentation – (60 mins with questions)

3/2/24 Bio diesel plants shut

Biodiesel is different from renewable diesel . Biodiesel can only be used in a modified diesel engine, whereas renewable diesel, made from the same feedstocks can be used directly in any existing diesel engine. They are made by very different chemical processes. Biodiesel output is slipping because renewable diesel output (that uses the same oil and fat inputs) is growing rapidly. Renewable diesel receives higher LCFS credits so can outbid biodiesel producers for vegetable oils, tallow and UCO.

2/16/24 Quote from an economist series on Net Zero

“The fossil-fuel industry has a record of being duplicitous and unreliable when it comes to emissions reduction; its sheer size makes it a big influence on governments and its well-oiled lobbying operations amplify that.
https://www.economist.com/special-report/2023/11/20/a-net-zero-world-needs-new-markets-and-institutions

2/15/24 More on CCS problems

I browsed this report (IEMAC) and read the “Subsurface Carbon Management” section p24, especially the “Addressing risks” subsection P 26 which includes

Environmental advocacy stakeholder concerns also focus on the presumed moral hazard resulting by the focus on mechanical carbon management because it may enable continued fossil fuel use and delay investments in non-emitting technologies. Attention given to carbon dioxide removal, in particular. This may be especially true if carbon dioxide removal substitutes directly for mandatory emissions reductions.

One focus has been on potential negative health and air quality impacts in communities from operation of facilities utilizing CCS that continue to emit other emissions, especially in communities already overburdened by air pollution. Community-level concerns have also focused on safety concerns related to potential leaks of carbon dioxide from storage facilities.
2023 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT
EMISSIONS MARKET ADVISORY COMMITTEE

GSNR’s project will not only waste time and drain critical funding but may even worsen wildfires. Recent NRDC article

2/2 24 Ca Bill CS 308 lists CCS but was probably not intended to cause the current flood of proposals

1/30/24 New article on the Problems of Crop Based Biofuels

1/26/24 Detailed article On CCS Problems world -wide

Includes lots of problems at injection sites in Norway.

1/19/24 CCS in Kern County – Podcast by KQED

The first 2 minutes is about a green port in Humboldt. The rest is lots of details about the upcoming CCS project which has real risks as well as potential climate benefits.

1/17/24 Detailed CCS report from lawrence Livermore Lab

Good analysis but omits risks of corroded pipe lines and danger of forest waste becoming whole trees

1/10/24 Great short Video explaining the problems of CCS

and a detailed Oxford University study of the same issue. They concluded that relying on CCS would be both more expensive and more planet warming than simply replacing fossil fuels with clean energy.

Summary point

Using CCS to facilitate business-as-usual fossil fuel use, even if feasible, would be
highly economically damaging.

1/7/24 Another False Solution – Conversion to BioDeisel

The planned conversion of the Phillips 66 Rodeo plant to biofuel production sounds good, but is in fact even worse than the fossil fuels. Detailed analysis posted here

charles-davidson-public-comment-on-the-revised-p66-renewable-diesel-project-2 Download

1/5/24 Problems Caused by Manure Digesters

12/21/23 Wood Pellet Plant plan described as a “Dodgy Deal” – details

12/20/23 article about the problems with “Green Diesel”

12/17/23 Article on the problem of Direct Air Capture plans

12/11/23 Great new Presentation by Mark Jacobson

Mark Jacobson made a great presentation at the AGU conference which debunks

Carbon Capture, Direct Air Capture, Blue Hydrogen, Non-Hydrogen-Electro-Fuels, Bioenergy (Biofuels for Transport, Biomass),New Nuclear (Small or Large)

Cannot post until I figure out how to reformat from pdf

11/17/23 New Article About the Montezuma Project

11/11/23 How a CO2 Pipeline was stopped

Good details about How Midwest Landowners Helped to Derail One of the Biggest CO2 Pipelines Ever Proposed

11/7/23 Carbon Capture and Storage

This is a dangerous way for the fossil fuel industry to continue business as usual while using our tax payer dollars for a giant greenwashing with serious risks to front line communities.

Hoping to post the slide show by Shaye Wolf, PhD, Climate Science Director, Center for Biological Diversity (awaiting permission) Below the cover and one key slide