Carbon capture and storage, essentially filtering out carbon that is produced when creating energy, provides a potential aid in the reduction of emissions. However, as with most options present for reducing emissions, it is not without its issues. These issues have come to a front in the UK. The Brits have an impressive track record for CCS initiatives compared to much of Europe, though, the process has run into several roadblocks. In the face of the recent financial crisis and the reduced need for energy, the initiatives slowed down rapidly. An English attempt to incentivize the creation of new CCS projects ran into trouble as a result of these factors, and a competition transformed into "a process of attrition rather than competition." This considered, the UK still outmatched all of the rest of Europe for bids for CCS projects.
The reality of the situation is that we are currently allowing economic shortfalls to determine our energy agenda. This is logical in the short term. But, when examined from a wider scope, we must consider that the costs of our ignoring sustainable means of energy production because of a decrease in our pocket cash. In the long run, it will be far more detrimental to allow sustainable policies to fall by the wayside.
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