Today on the cbc radio i was listening to an interesting debate about a proposed new solution called carbon capture storage. It is being proposed to be tested out in Saskatchewan, Canada, seeing as they use “dirty coal” to which 50-60% of there energy comes from. Simplified, the co2 emissions from the Coal plants will be stored in containers underground, thus preventing the harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere, all and all helping Canada to reach its emissions reduction.
There are two sides to this proposed idea. One being for the project, which has been proved on a small scale, yet has yet to have been proved outside of the laboratory. It was mentioned that Obama had drawn attention to this technology as an interesting solution that should be further addressed. Thus, it seems many parties are interested.
Alternately, Greenpeace thinks otherwise. They refer to it as a “Pipe Dream“. This article argues that there are many proven clean technologies , such as wind and solar, that could be utilized, instead of funneling billions of dollars into a project with no proven external validity on a large scale. Some other comments posed were the cost? Varying from a 25%-200% increase in energy bills…
But wait, aren’t we missing something? What part of REDUCING our impact do we not understand. The co2 still exists, but i guess if its out of sight, and out of mind in a container that its ok? What about taking steps as individuals, as communities, as nations, and as human beings, to look at our own personal lifestyles and impacts. We need to make sacrifices, about the we live. We shouldn’t be looking of ways to sustain the life we lead as consumers, we need to scale back. There will be no economy with no environment. Period. Instead of hoping that there will be no unforeseen ill outcomes to carbon capture storage, lets just reduce our consumption of energy. And hey what do you know this solution its free. It may sound silly, but i cut back my energy bill in half these last two months, sure i have had to wear extra layers to bed, but hell, being uncomfortably cold now and then never killed anyone. Why do we feel entitled to such luxuries? To me this ties in nicely with the book Brave New World, theres a part in the book where it talks about sports that are banned because they do not consume enough products. Parsimony my friends. Why utilize a technology so complex, when theyre are simpler solutions. Our society is driven by consumption, and to me this is clearly another band-aid solution.
