Steven Chu: Invest in CCS

Energy Secretary Stephen Chu told reporters this week that the U.S. should invest in carbon capture and storage technology.

"It absolutely is worthwhile to invest in carbon capture and storage because we are not in a vacuum," Chu told the Wall Street Journal following an appearance at an Energy Information Administration conference.

Chu went on to say he expects the United States and countries such as India and China to continue using coal to generate electricity.

That is just one more reason to be sure we keep putting dollars into funding clean coal technology research. Remember, the U.S. already exports coal – and if we continue to lead the way in creating and implementing the best ways to use it, we won’t only be exporting the fuel, but U.S.-bred technology as well.

Secretary Chu makes good points all around, and he’s right that these technologies are a worthwhile investment – as we’ve talked about here before, they have historically paid off.