What happens to captured CO2? Where is it stored and would it still cause global warming when it eventually gets released?
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Captured CO2 can be used in several ways. First, it can be pumped into the ground and essentially turned into rock which is a form of sequestration, that is, hiding away the CO2 for the long term. Second, captured CO2 can be used directly in products like carbonated beverages or dry ice. And third, CO2 can be used as an ingredient in other products including synthetic fuels.
If you tuck it away in rocks, it’s not in the atmosphere so it can’t increase global warming.
If you put it into soda cans, or put it into fuels you then burn, yes, it returns to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change, but at least you’re not adding *new* CO2 to the atmosphere, you’re reusing CO2 that’s already there.
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