Put carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to the test with latest En-ROADS update

By Climate Interactive
March 13, 2025

The role of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in addressing harmful emissions has sparked intense debate for years. Can it make a difference or is it an excuse to continue burning coal, oil, and gas?

You can explore this question and more with our latest update to the En-ROADS Simulator, which we developed with MIT Sloan. It brings new graphs, more advanced sliders, and enhanced modeling that will allow you to dig deeper into the effectiveness of CCS across an array of settings.

What’s new

Eleven new graphs illustrating topics such as:

• Dynamics of CCS in coal, gas, bioenergy, and direct air capture
• CO₂ removals
• Potential cost and market scale of CCS
• Energy used to capture and store carbon

New advanced sliders to give you the flexibility to test:

• Subsidies that encourage the use of CCS in energy production (coal, gas, and bioenergy)

• Subsidies that encourage direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) for carbon removal

• Plus, many assumptions to test varying estimates on the timing and scaling potential of CCS technology

Many improvements to existing graphs to highlight modeling improvements to CCS and key refinements to modeling the fossil fuel emissions from industrial processes and feedstocks (such as plastic production). Learn more in our detailed release notes.

This update has been years in the making and gives you the most comprehensive way yet to see how CCS fits into the broader climate solutions puzzle. Use the new features to explore how:

• Different types of CCS compare
• Investments in CCS compare to efforts to promote renewable energy or tax fossil fuels
• Policy choices affect energy prices and costs, emissions, and the energy mix

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see these new features in action during our webinar on Thursday, March 20! Register for the 7 AM EDT or 2 PM EDT session to watch Executive Director Andrew Jones uncover CCS insights that can shape more effective climate strategies.

Have more questions? These FAQs cover some key topics and how to simulate certain actions in En-ROADS:

• How do I simulate carbon dioxide removal (CDR)?
• How do I simulate reducing emissions from cement production?
• How much would a carbon price increase the cost of gasoline (petrol)?
• How do I simulate recycling or reducing plastic?
• What is the difference between primary energy demand and final energy consumption?
• Why aren’t coal, natural gas, and bioenergy carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies included under “Technological Carbon Removal”?