Low oil prices have made the only large-scale commercial project for carbon capture in the United States uneconomical, E&E News reported on Tuesday. The Petra Nova project for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from a coal-fired power plant southwest of Houston is currently in a “mothball status,” because it needs higher oil prices than the current $40 a barrel to make the carbon capture operations financially viable, according to E&E News. According to a spokesman of NRG Energy, the owner and operator of the project, the carbon capture operations will resume once “economics improve,” Axios reports . Low oil prices typically stall the development of more expensive energy alternatives, including carbon capture projects and electric vehicles (EVs). NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Corporation launched at the end of 2016 the Petra Nova project , aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of the U.S. government’s […]