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I N N O V AT I O N S • V O L . V I I , N O. 1 • 2 0 1 5
10
Industry and governments
turn to carbon-capture
technology to control
emissions
F U T U R E T H I N K I N G
Captured:
Now What?
In April 2008, British consumers got word of an exciting
new beverage called EV-EON: sparkling water that got its fizz from
carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from coal-fueled power stations.
An animated video promoting the bottled water showed flying
saucer-like devices sucking emissions from smiling power plant
smokestacks. It would have been a great idea, had it been real. The
water promotion was an April Fool’s prank designed to raise awareness
of carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a set of technologies to capture
CO2 from industrial and energy-related sources before it pollutes the
atmosphere. Fast forward to today: With global concerns mounting
about climate change and air quality, there’s little need to raise