While the Biden administration has set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, many industry experts have emphasized the difficulty of reaching such a goal and that it will take a combination of many technologies to achieve net zero. Several studies, such as the climate model produced by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have shown that reducing the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere is not enough to combat climate change. Net-zero emissions will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.
CCS refers to the capture of CO2, typically from point sources that use fossil fuels. The CO2, if not used at the source facility, is compressed and transported by pipeline, ship, rail, or truck to be utilized or injected into deep geological formations. CCS has a range of potential uses in the path to decarbonization; it can be retrofitted to existing power and industrial plants, reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like cement and steel, and enable low-carbon hydrogen production. The Biden administration has been heavily supportive of this growing sector, but several challenges, both technical and social, still need to be solved.