There is a very large energy industry convention goin on right now — CERA Week. CERA is the old Cambridge Energy Research Associates that was bought by S&P Global. CERA Week is a big deal in this industry.
And, surprise, two of the major things getting talked about:
1. Fossil fuels can’t go away, we “need” them
2. The $85/ton tax credit for direct air capture carbon removals “is just not enough”
As reporting indicated, the CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said that the incentives aren’t enough to cover capital investment, debt service, and a return. The money quote was “it’s really difficult to justify a carbon capture project just on the $85.”
Understand, nature based carbon sequestration is going gang busters at $35/ton but the darling of the fossil fuel industry, direct air capture, can’t get off the ground at these prices. And that is even taking into account the incentive for the fossil fuel companies to take round error dollars from their profits to potentially lose so they can protect those profits.
But the plan right now seems to be to tout those glorious technology prospects while doing nothing (so the abject failure of those projects isn’t documented) and continuing to drill.
Yup, I am sure the MSM will get this story right on the front page.