As Illinois considers ways to achieve its goal of relying entirely on clean energy by 2050, one technology that has courted controversy is carbon capture. Carbon capture is a method whereby carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas, is placed in long-term storage, usually by injection into wells in geologic formations thousands of feet underground. These wells take advantage of empty “pore space” in subsurface structures. It is sometimes referred to as carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, or CCUS.
Ariel Hampton is the legal and government affairs director for the Illinois Environmental Council, an environmental advocacy group that supports the legislation. “A lot of this process isn’t really covered by the federal government,” Hampton said in an interview.
Hampton added that investments in carbon capture can sometimes do more harm than good for the environment, either through their design or because captured CO2 can be used in “enhanced oil recovery.” This process involves increasing the pressure in an oil well to extract more oil. Williams’ bill would ban using captured CO2 for this purpose. “If we’re increasing net carbon trying to get carbon into the ground, that’s not helpful,” Hampton said.
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