> Theres no scenario I can think of where it actually makes sense to use 5000 units of energy to clean up the CO2 generated by the production of 100 units of en

> Theres no scenario I can think of where it actually makes sense to use 5000 units of energy to clean up the CO2 generated by the production of 100 units of energy This line of thinking comes from the fossil fuel industry. Nobody in clean tech advocates for this. The problem is that even if we get to net zero by 2050, there will be too much carbon in the atmosphere. Global warming is actually suppressed by aerosols emitted by coal and other fossil fuels, and is going to get much worse even if we meet energy transition commitments. Further, there are industries that we don't know how to decarbonize (e.g., aviation, sustaining need for things like plastics). Carbon capture (point source and direct air, whether for storage or for reuse) are logically sound. They are extremely expensive (thermodynamically, resource, $) and basically nobody likes them, but humanity lacks better solutions.