If done instead of reducing current emissions, 100%. That said, there is a real need to invest in carbon capture technology now so that it can be more useful in the future. It’s a small part of the overall strategy to improve our climate future, but an important one as we get further along in the century and emissions already are reduced. So, yeah, if people hold up this technology and say “see, let’s keep drilling”, fuck that. But as long as it’s an “and” not an “or”, this is a good thing.

Man, I really want to love Millenia. It feels like it has so many great ideas mechanically (from the ages mechanic to how resources work domestically and internationally), it just seems really rough at the moment. The pacing feels off and the flavor comes off just bland (none of the civs seem to have much character).

It takes energy to produce them, sure, but it’s way less than even just the production needs for coal or natural gas. Not to mention that’s a one time carbon cost (per lifespan which is close to 30 years these days) vs ongoing emissions. And additionally, as the energy mix where the panels are produced cleans up, the carbon footprint of the panels go down as well! Is it the perfect solution? No, but there is no silver bullet to get off fossil fuels. Solar is just one part of that transition and it is exciting to see more groups exploring the solar/shade synergy (there’s some cool shaded farming solar experiments going on that also make use of the solar panel’s shadow for additional benefits!)