Taxpayers’ wasted millions on ‘overly optimistic’ climate studies EXPOSED

A government watchdog has blasted energy chiefs for spending $1.4 billion of taxpayers’ money studying ill-fated carbon capture systems that would likely not help tackle climate change.

The Department of Energy (DOE) poured money into 654 carbon capture projects between 2018 and 2023 without properly vetting whether they were worthwhile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.

The audit is especially alarming because far more taxpayer money is going toward carbon capture research — President Joe Biden has set aside $12 billion for such research under his signature Inflation Reduction Act.

Some experts say capturing and storing carbon pollution could limit heat-trapping gases from burned fossil fuels, but critics say it is enormously expensive and virtually impossible to implement on a large scale.

For its audit, the GAO focused on the DOE’s “risk assessments” of 40 research projects, which examine how grant money is spent and whether it can help combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Some experts question the value of carbon capture facilities, such as this one at a power plant in Richmond, Texas

Auditors found several cases in which the department noticed risks but still handed out taxpayer money.

Energy chiefs were often ‘overly optimistic’ about the results they would achieve, says the Control of 29 pages.

As many as 25 assessments have failed, the GAO says, using practices that could “undermine the likelihood of project success.”

In one case, the department dropped $14.6 million on a study that didn’t raise the money, and later suffered delays and cost overruns.

Researchers in that project had not even looked at whether it was possible to store carbon at the location proposed in their grant application.

That investigation is now $5.1 million over budget and more than a year behind schedule, the audit said.

The DOE “engaged in a number of practices that could expose taxpayer dollars to the risk of financing unsuccessful projects and undermine the likelihood of project success,” the auditors concluded.

They urged the department to be more choosy in financing projects and study the risks more carefully.

The capture process takes carbon from power plants and other sources and stores it safely underground

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks at a clean energy meeting in New York City

Auditors found the Department of Energy spent $1.4 billion in taxpayer money investigating ill-fated carbon capture schemes

Brad Crabtree, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, said in a response letter that the department would follow up on the warnings.

The department did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

It’s not the first time energy chiefs have been blasted over carbon capture plans.

In 2021, auditors found that the department spent $472 million on projects that were never built.

The audit comes at a time when carbon capture is coming under renewed attention due to the huge injection of money into research under the IRA and new rules on CO2 emissions from power stations.

Scientists and engineers are turning to carbon capture technologies in a desperate bid to reduce heat-trapping gases, fearing worsening wildfires, storms and droughts.

The process, which takes carbon from power plants and other sources and stores it safely underground, has attracted a lot of attention and investment in recent years.

But critics say it’s a waste of time, money and effort.

Basav Sen of the Institute for Policy Studies derides carbon capture as ‘speculative’ science.

Dr. Faith Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, says it is an “illusion” as the amounts of carbon needed to make a dent in climate change are “unbelievably large.”