Long-awaited method to rein in carbon emissions still faces hurdles and doubts
Nicolle Rager Fuller
Like every other project, Jänschwalde failed.
In 2008, it was set to become the world’s largest demonstration of just how cleanly coal could be burned to generate electricity. The revamping of an aging power plant in Germany, Jänschwalde was to become a paragon of a technology that can slash up to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel–burning power plants — the single largest global source of greenhouse gas emissions. The technology, called carbon capture and storage, or CCS, collects planet-warming carbon pollution produced by power plants and permanently removes it from circulation. As the world steadily increases its use of fossil fuels, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar, CCS holds massive potential to help avert the dire climate scenarios predicted for the next century.
Yet, like more than a dozen similar projects, Jänschwalde was abandoned. CCS, with all its potential, returned to a state of limbo. For