The U.S. Department of Energy awarded $126.6 million in grants on Tuesday to test carbon capture and storage in underground caverns.

The study will try to store 1 million tons of carbon dioxide under ground. But is this a en economic decision?

Considering that the U.S releases 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year^_[1], the investment can only be seen as an economic disaster. $126 million can buy and install 190 windmills that has a maximum power generation capacity of 540 MW (of which roughly 1/3 is produced on average). That amounts to 62 - 112 tons of CO₂ saved - per hour^[2]. In just one year that amounts to 0.5 - 1 million tons of carbon dioxide saved.

Now with carbon sequestration you need to pay for every ton of CO₂ saved. With the windmills you can have stable production with no CO₂ emissions whatsoever for 12 - 20 years. That is 6 million tons to 20 million tons of CO₂ saved for the same investment.

Now why do people say we need carbon sequestration again