Carbon capture and sequestration gets heralded as a great way to lower CO2 emissions and keep burning coal. Unfortuantely, it also kills the efficiency of the coal plant, meaning that every other environmental externality associated with coal-fired generation — from mountaintop removal to power plant siting — is exacerbated by CCS. Planet Ark puts it succinctly:
The process called carbon capture and sequestration requires as much as 20 percent of the electricity a power plant generates.
That essentially means that for every five coal plants using the technology, a sixth would be required just to power the capture and burial of carbon dioxide produced.
