By current estimates it would cost up to $1.8 trillion to dramatically reduce U.S. carbon emission by 2050. But that price tag could be cut in half with investment in research for cutting-edge nuclear technologies and low-emission coal plants, according to a study from the The Electric Power Research Institute,a nonprofit electric sector research organization based in Palo Alto, Calif. The study found that a $1.4 billion annual investment in research through 2030 (about $35 billion total) would substantially reduce the costs of bringing down emissions by 2 percent a year. The payoff would be especially beneficial to coal-burning power plants. The money would go into emission-reducing technologies such as carbon capture, new nuclear power plants, electric
"plug-in" hybrid cars and coal-burning plants that sequester their carbon dioxide emissions in underground reservoirs.
Source: Reuters
