Distributional Impacts of Carbon Capture in the US Power Sector.

While some see carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) as crucial for cost-effective decarbonization, it faces opposition based on air pollution and equity concerns. To understand this cost–air pollution trade-off, we simulate the potential impacts of allowing CCUS deployment in the US power sector under plausible climate policies. We show that the existence of this trade-off critically depends on the underlying policy, which affects the type of generation CCUS could displace: under a policy that incentivizes coal generation, CCUS might improve health outcomes and reduce costs. When we disaggregate our results, we find that the air pollution (PM_2.5) effects of allowing CCUS, positive or negative, are largest for Black and low-income populations. We show that allowing CCUS can yield energy-cost savings, particularly benefiting lower-income communities. Our sensitivity analyses highlight the effects of uncertainties on costs and benefits. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of broader distributional consequences of allowing CCUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]