Carbon Capture Will be Costly, Harvard Study Says

Energy researchers at Harvard recently released a report predicting that carbon capture projects at coal-fired power plants could cause electricity costs to double.

The report, “Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture,” was issued by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.

While costs would decrease as the technology becomes refined and more widely adopted, it could still represent an increase of 22 to 55 percent.

Previous studies priced hypothetical commercial-scale carbon capture and storage at about $30 to $50 per ton of CO2. The Harvard study put that number much higher—between $120 and $180 per ton.

The cost of later-generation plants would be more in line with those predicted by other studies, in the $30 to $50 per ton range.

Researchers Mohammed Al-Juaied and Adam Whitmore acknowledged in the report that their projections were higher than most published estimates, but added that they reflect both the increasing cost of construction and materials as well as “greater knowledge of project costs.”

Costs at that level would increase the price of electricity by about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour—more than double the national average of 9 cents per kWh.

In regions where coal is the primary source of electricity, that increase would represent an even higher percentage jump in rates.

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