Climeworks removes CO₂ from the air
At Climeworks, we are committed to providing groundbreaking carbon removal solutions to businesses and individuals who want to make a positive impact on the planet. Our carbon removal service offers a user-friendly and effective way to permanently remove the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions you may be unable to reduce.
We take a hands-on approach by designing, building, and operating our own direct air capture and storage facilities. This gives us complete control over the quality and efficiency of our technology.
In addition, we partner with a network of carefully selected suppliers to offer a comprehensive portfolio of carbon removal solutions. This allows us to tailor our services to meet your specific needs and help you achieve your net-zero goals.
Why is carbon removal important to combat climate change?
To maximize our chances of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the most urgent task is drastic emissions reductions. However, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential, the latest climate science is clear that only reducing emissions is not enough (IPCC, SBTi); urgent climate action is needed to halve emissions by 2030. To reach this target, we must first reduce emissions, and then actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Carbon removal plays a vital role in addressing two key challenges:
Residual emissions: Many industries and sectors find it extremely difficult to eliminate their CO₂ emissions. Carbon removal solutions can neutralize these residual emissions, helping to achieve net-zero goals.
Historic emissions: CO₂ has been accumulating in the atmosphere for decades, contributing to the climate crisis. Technologies like direct air capture can directly remove this historic CO₂ from the air, effectively reversing the effects of past emissions.
How our carbon dioxide removal technology works
Direct air capture (DAC) is a technology that captures CO₂ directly from the air. Unlike traditional carbon capture methods focused on industrial emissions, DAC offers a versatile solution for emission reductions and removal by capturing CO₂ from the air.
At Climeworks, we've combined DAC with permanent underground storage (DAC+S) to create a powerful tool for combating. This process involves:
Atmospheric capture: Our advanced DAC facilities use specialized filters to extract CO₂ from the ambient air. These filters are designed to selectively capture CO₂ molecules, leaving other atmospheric gases unaffected.
CO₂ concentration: The captured CO₂ is then concentrated and purified to ensure its suitability for storage. This process involves a series of filtration and separation steps to remove impurities and increase the CO₂ concentration.
Underground storage: Once concentrated, the CO₂ is stored deep underground by our storage partners.
In Iceland, our storage partner Carbfix utilizes a unique geological process to permanently store the CO₂ underground. The CO₂ is injected into deep basalt rock formations, where it reacts with the minerals to form stable carbonate minerals. This process effectively locks the CO₂ away, preventing its release back into the atmosphere - it remains safely stored for over 10,000 years.
In the U.S., we announced three projects as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Regional DAC Hubs program and were already awarded USD 50m to kickstart one of the Hubs, called Project Cypress. Other promising locations are Canada, Norway, and Kenya, where we collaborate with local partners to explore the development of direct air capture and storage on a large scale.
Direct air capture is one of today's most promising carbon removal technologies. We’re continually researching and developing ours with a world-class team of over 150 engineers.
Climeworks Solutions: our newest carbon removal offering
To remove CO₂ at the necessary gigaton scales by 2050, the world needs more carbon removal technologies than direct air capture – and we’re committed to accelerating the scale-up of our industry.
With Climeworks Solutions, companies can now secure a holistic portfolio of carbon removals from Climeworks, uniting the best-in-class suppliers across engineered and nature-based approaches. Each portfolio is tailored to companies’ unique needs and can comprise solutions like afforestation/reforestation, biochar, enhanced weathering, or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and always include our own direct air capture technology.
Learn more about Climeworks Solutions and how we can help your company make a positive impact.
Frequently asked questions about CO₂ storage
What is Carbfix?
Carbfix provides a natural and permanent storage solution by turning CO₂ into stone underground in less than two years. The technology provides a complete carbon capture and injection solution, where CO₂ dissolved in water – a sparkling water of sorts – is injected into the subsurface where it reacts with favorable rock formations to form solid carbonate minerals via natural processes. For the Carbfix technology to work, one needs three ingredients: favorable rocks, water, and a source of carbon dioxide. Head to the Carbfix website for more information on the Carbfix method.
Why Carbfix?
Three factors make the collaboration between Carbfix and Climeworks especially beneficial:
The Carbfix method turns the air-captured CO₂ into stone, thus creating a permanent and safe storage solution
Immediate proximity to the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant (which is owned and operated by Reykjavik Energy, Carbfix’s parent company) - the second largest in the world -, which provides the necessary low-carbon heat and electricity needed
Carbfix has a very strong scientific backbone, as well as sophisticated monitoring and analysis of sequestered CO₂, which is crucial to reliably show that CO₂ is removed permanently and safely
How long does it take to turn the CO₂ into stone?
Our Icelandic partner Carbfix has demonstrated that over 95% of CO₂ captured and injected at Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant is mineralized within two years. The remaining 5% turns into stone shortly thereafter.
Why is mineralization so quick?
Mineralization is so quick because the dissolution of CO₂ before or during injection ensures that chemical reactions between host rock and injected fluid begin to take place immediately after injection. The high reactivity and chemical composition of the basaltic host rock (lots of calcium, magnesium, and iron that can combine with the injected CO₂ to form stable carbonate minerals) play an even larger role in the efficiency of permanent mineral storage in basalts (see Carbfix FAQs for more info).
How much CO₂ can be stored underground? Does the underground mineralization of CO₂ work in other countries than Iceland?
It has been estimated that the active rift zone in Iceland could store over 400 gigatons of CO₂. Its ideal conditions make Iceland the perfect site to start with. But it is also possible on a global scale.
On a global scale, the potential for CO₂ storage is even larger. As there exist different approaches to store CO₂ underground, estimates vary considerably. For underground storage of CO₂ via mineralization, the global potential has been estimated at up to 60 million gigatons. Climeworks is exploring storage options with existing and new partners around the world, for example in the U.S., Middle East, and Nordics.
Is the underground mineralization of CO₂ safe?
The pioneering process of turning carbon dioxide into stone is safe as it reproduces a natural process. It happens through a combination of carbon dioxide capture from the air and rapid underground mineralization - a natural process whereby the carbon dioxide reacts with the basaltic rock to become solid calcite matter (another form of rock) within a few years. Climeworks’ CO₂ storage partner Carbfix monitors the injection well network, and the impact of the operations on the reservoir host, and verifies the mineralization process of injected CO₂. For more information, please visit the Carbfix website here.
Lead the race to net zero
You can focus on reducing what you can, while we remove what you can’t.