EPA's crackdown on power plant emissions is a big first step — but it will be hard to make sure the captured carbon stays in place

The US government plans to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and as a result, a lot of money is about to be poured into technology that can capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks and lock it away. This raises an important question: When carbon dioxide it captures and stores how do we make sure it stays? Power plants that burn fossil fuels , such as coal and natural gas , release a lot of carbon dioxide. As CO₂ accumulates in the atmosphere, it traps heat near the Earth's surface, thereby causing global warming . However, if CO₂ emissions can be captured instead and lock them for thousands of years, existing power plants on fossil fuels could meet proposed new federal standards and reduce their impact on climate change . We work as scientists and engineers on the technologies and policies carbon capture and storage. one of us Klaus Lackner , proposed a principle more than two decades ago that is reflected in the proposed standards: For all carbon extracted from the earth, there must be the same amount safely and permanently neutralized. To ensure this, carbon capture and storage needs an effective certification system.by Stephanie Arcus and Klaus Lackner)