Carbon capture and storage 'can cut air pollution for now'

Leaders at the European Environment Agency (EEA) have suggested that carbon capture and storage (CCS) could help reduce air pollution in the short term.

CCS involves catching the carbon emissions produced by power plants and burying them underground.

However, the organisation has warned this will only be a viable solution for the next few decades before a more permanent low carbon economy is achieved.

EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade said that while CCS will have a notable impact on air quality, emissions of some greenhouse gases may actually increase - which makes it very important to sustain a suitable balance between different types of pollutant.

"Understanding these types of trade-offs are extremely important if we are to deploy this technology across Europe and the world," she remarked.

The EEA recently suggested there is still room for improvement in Europe's attempts to curb carbon emissions. Despite this, it stated that significant strides have been made in the continent's air clean-up efforts since 1990.

Posted by Joseph Hutton