Pipework inside a pod, operated by Carbfix, containing technology for storing carbon dioxide underground, in Hellisheidi, Iceland. Most CO 2 today is produced from fossil fuels and has to be trucked to sites.īut can these systems really play a significant part in beating the climate crisis? “We have a different business logic: we sell fresh indoor air as a service.” The company’s current office unit can capture a kilogram of CO 2 every 8 hours.Ī lack of commercial CO 2 supply recently hit the UK, and AirCapture, based in California, is developing onsite machines that suck CO 2 from the air to produce streams for businesses such as drinks companies. “Basically people are more stupid indoors and that means thousands of dollars of loss for companies in offices,” he says. The CO 2 in exhaled breath makes offices stuffy and can reduce worker productivity, says CEO Petri Laakso. Soletair Power’s approach is to turn buildings into CO 2-capturing machines.
“Imagine white powder on cookie trays in cafeteria tray racks – it’s pretty simple.” “We are trying to turn this Dac problem from a chemical engineering problem into an industrial automation problem,” says Shashank Samala. Photograph: Carbon Engineering LtdĮnergy use is a big concern if Dac is to be deployed at massive scale and Mission Zero Technologies uses electrochemical processes to release the captured CO 2, which it says means 3-5 times less power is needed than for heat-based processes.Īnother firm, Heirloom, does away with fans and allows heat-treated rocks to passively absorb CO 2 over a couple of weeks, before more heating liberates the gas. Rendering showing what will be the world’s largest Dac plant, currently being engineered by Carbon Engineering and 1PointFive. Peter Reinhardt, CEO of Charm Industrial, has an even more striking pitch: “We put oil back underground.” The company takes agricultural and forestry waste that would otherwise rot – emitting CO 2 – and heats it to create “bio-oil” that is then pumped back into empty oil reservoirs. “That’s the largest market we’re seeing at the moment,” Ruddock says. The company also wants to use its technology to provide CO 2 as a feedstock for producing low-CO 2 jet fuel. The company aims to bury 1m tonnes a year in the US in 2025, at about $300/tonne. “Importantly, there is a huge overlap between the skill sets required to do Dac and traditional oil and gas, so it really supports the green transition,” she says.
“Rather than the transportation of gas in, it’s the transportation of CO 2 out,” says Amy Ruddock, the company’s European head. About 4,000 tonnes a year will be captured and the company is also working on projects in Oman and Norway.Ĭanadian firm Carbon Engineering takes a similar approach to CO 2 capture but is looking to bury the CO 2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs in the US and the North Sea off Scotland, effectively reversing the flow in existing pipes. The CO 2 is then taken by a partner company, Carbfix, and put underground with water, where it solidifies into rock in two years. Its Orca plant in Iceland uses renewable geothermal energy. When the material is saturated, it is heated to 100C (212F) and releases a stream of pure CO 2. Photograph: Orjan Ellingvag/AlamyĬlimeworks’ units use fans to pass air over a solid material that absorbs CO 2.
The heating and the CO2 is sourced from the local waste incinerator, where the CO2 is collected by the Swiss company Climeworks. Gauges, valves and pipes for water, heating and CO2 at the Gebr Meier greenhouse in Hinwil outside Zurich.
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