Can 'Clean Coal Technology' Be Cost-Effective for Natural Gas?

 Support from environmental groups?

Some environmentalists are excited by the technology. "From our point of view, we're talking about climate protection," said George Peridas, an engineer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of several environmental advocacy groups that support carbon capture research. "From the standpoint of the fossil fuel producers, I think they are looking at the bottom line. They are looking at survival; they are looking at creating new jobs."

 Competition from renewables? 

Right now, renewable energy is growing faster than any other source of energy, said Jonathan Levy, an energy investment analyst at Vision Ridge Partners.

"With the cost of wind and solar where they are, and continuing to decline," he told me, "it's hard to see why you'd go all in on a big fossil project that is more expensive than the other technologies."

The aforementioned Petra Nova project is included in a full-length feature article on CCS technology by Brad Plumer of Vox. Notwithstanding the miserable track record of most CCS plants, the technology "is garnering a surprising amount of support in Congress right now, with Democrats and Republicans working together to craft a pair of tax and finance bills that could help carbon capture spread more widely —  not just for coal, but for gas plants, ethanol plants, steel plants, and other sources of pollution," writes Plumer.