本文转自《CNBC》发表的题为“Storing CO2 underground could help the fight against climate change. But cost is a big problem”的报道。

作者：Anmar Frangoul

日期：2019.04.08

原文链接：https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/storing-co2-underground-could-help-the-fight-against-climate-change.html?ADUIN=443622907&ADSESSION=1554768336&ADTAG=CLIENT.QQ.5599_.0&ADPUBNO=26866#userconsent#

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers are looking at something called carbon capture, utilization and storage.

在麻省理工学院，研究人员正在研究碳捕集，利用与封存的问题。

One researcher describes carbon capture, utilization and storage as "one of the weapons in our arsenal in the fight against climate change."

一位研究人员将碳捕集，利用与封存描述为“我们在应对气候变化的武器库中的武器之一”。

Despite the emergence of renewable energy sources such as large-scale wind and solar power, our planet is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels. 

尽管大规模风能和太阳能等可再生能源的出现，我们的地球仍然严重依赖化石燃料。

In the U.S., for example, the Energy Information Administration states that petroleum, natural gas and coal accounted for roughly 77.6 percent of primary energy production in 2017. 

例如，在美国，能源信息管理局表示，2017年石油，天然气和煤炭占一次能源产量的约77.6％。

It's within this context that, in some quarters, the idea of carbon capture and storage, or CCS, has gained traction. 

正是在这种背景下，在某些方面，碳捕获和储存（CCS）的想法已经获得了关注。

The European Commission — the EU's executive arm — describes CCS as a set of technologies that look to capture, transport and store carbon dioxide (CO2) that's emitted by industrial facilities and power plants. The idea is to stop CO2 from reaching the atmosphere by storing it in geological formations underground, according to the Commission.

欧盟委员会 - 欧盟的执行机构 - 将CCS描述为一系列技术，旨在捕获，运输和储存工业设施和发电厂排放的二氧化碳（CO2）。 据委员会称，其目的是通过将二氧化碳储存在地下地质构造中来阻止二氧化碳进入大气层。

Uptake of CCS technology has not been widespread, however. For its part, the Commission notes that, "at current low carbon prices, companies do not see an economic rationale" for investing in CCS. 

然而，CCS技术尚未普及。 就委员会而言，它注意到“在目前的低碳价格下，公司没有看到投资CCS的经济理由”。

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), researchers are looking at something called carbon capture, utilization and storage. This places an emphasis on not only the storage but re-use of CO2 emissions. 

在麻省理工学院（MIT），研究人员正在寻找一种叫做碳捕集，利用及封存的东西。 这不仅强调封存，而且重新使用二氧化碳排放。

At MIT's Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Center, researchers are undertaking work to cut the cost of carbon capture, enable secure carbon storage options and develop "carbon utilization opportunities."

在麻省理工学院的碳捕集，利用及封存（CCUS）中心，研究人员正致力于降低碳捕集成本，实现安全的碳封存选择并开发“碳利用机会”。

The center describes carbon capture utilization and storage technologies as holding "great promise for ameliorating the effects of excess emissions" through the capture and safe storage of carbon dioxide. 

该中心描述了碳捕集、利用和封存技术，通过捕集和安全封存二氧化碳，“有望改善过量排放的影响”。

When it comes to carbon dioxide reduction and utilization, the Center is researching processes such as electrochemical CO2 fixation.

在减少和利用二氧化碳方面，该中心正在研究电化学二氧化碳固定等过程。

It describes this as employing "state-of-the-art catalytic methods" to use low-carbon renewable electricity to help convert CO2 into a range of assets such as "fuels, commodity chemicals, and critical materials."

它将此描述为采用“最先进的催化方法”，使用低碳可再生电力帮助将二氧化碳转化为一系列资产，如“燃料，商品化学品和关键材料”。

Howard J. Herzog is a senior research engineer at the MIT Energy Initiative. "Climate change is a very difficult problem to solve and we're going to need as many technologies as possible to help us solve it at an affordable price," he told CNBC's "Sustainable Energy."

Howard J. Herzog是麻省理工学院能源倡议的高级研究工程师。 “气候变化是一个非常难以解决的问题，我们需要尽可能多的技术来帮助我们以合理的价格解决它，”他告诉CNBC的“可持续能源”。

Carbon capture, utilization and storage was "one of the weapons in our arsenal in the fight against climate change," he added. 

他补充说，碳捕集，利用及封存是“我们应对气候变化的武器库中的武器之一”。

While Herzog was keen to emphasize the potential of CCUS, he also explained that there were challenges to be overcome. 

虽然Herzog热衷于强调CCUS的潜力，但他也解释说要克服挑战。

"The reason CCUS is not widely available today is that we don't have policies in place to reduce our emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere," he said. 

“CCUS今天没有广泛使用的原因是我们没有制定政策来减少向大气排放的二氧化碳，”他说。

"It's always going to be cheaper to put CO2 into the atmosphere than to capture and store it. So, until we have policies in place to address climate change … It's going to be very slow going for CCUS." 

“将二氧化碳排放到大气中比捕集和封存二氧化碳要便宜得多。因此，在我们制定应对气候变化的政策之前......对于CCUS来说，这将是非常缓慢的。”

Looking forward, Herzog said that he envisioned a future for CCUS where policy is put in place to incentivize the technology to the marketplace. 

展望未来，Herzog表示，他设想CCUS的未来，制定政策以激励技术进入市场。

"A real byproduct of this (is) it will really spur innovation," he added. "I see new technologies coming into the field, things we may not even have thought about today that will reduce cost and help us address climate change in a more effective manner."

“这是一个真正的副产品（是），它将真正刺激创新，”他补充说。 “我看到新技术进入该领域，我们今天甚至都没有考虑过这将降低成本并帮助我们以更有效的方式应对气候变化的事情。”