Safe
The carbon dioxide is safely stored by, for example, turning it into stone through natural processes.
What is Direct Air Capture?
Our Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology is one of the key technological solutions to fight the climate crisis. It captures CO₂ directly from the air, reducing the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ by only using renewable energy, energy-from-waste, or other waste heat as energy sources, offering a promising solution to mitigate the impacts of greenhouse gases.
How our DAC 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 that prevent new emissions from entering the atmosphere, DAC allows us to permanently remove CO₂ that is already in the atmosphere and warming our planet.
The DAC 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.
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. Geological storage in suitable rock formations is considered the safest, most scalable, and permanent approach to CO₂ storage as it is based on a natural process.
In Iceland, our storage partner Carbfix utilizes a unique geological process to store the CO₂ underground permanently. 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.
The benefits of Direct Air Capture
Each solution, whether natural or technology-based, has its benefits. That's why it's essential that every approach works in synergy with all others if climate targets are to be achieved. Here are the benefits of direct air capture:
Scalable
Modular plant design, low-temperature heat, and minimal land footprint make it highly scalable.
Permanent
It goes further than compensation: removing CO₂ emissions from the air, forever.
Measurable
You can see the exact amount of CO₂ we'll remove in your name on your personal dashboard.
Efficient
With minimal land and water usage, this is one of the most efficient carbon dioxide removal approaches.
Natural
The removed CO₂ goes through rapid mineralization to become stone: a safe and natural process.
Why do we need Direct Air Capture?
DAC is key to mitigating global warming. The IPCC estimates that by mid-century, we will need to remove 3-12 gigatons of CO₂ from the air every year to maximize our chances of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Direct Air Capture and Storage (DAC+S) is expected to contribute a significant part, with the potential of removing up to 310 gigatons of CO₂ by 2100. This demands the technology’s fast and drastic scale-up.
However, one measure alone will not be sufficient to mitigate global warming, we need all solutions to work together. We must both drastically reduce emissions and remove legacy CO₂ emissions from the air. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) recognizes this in its net zero standard for companies: an economy-wide emissions reduction of at least 90% by 2050 is required and the remaining 10% must be neutralized by carbon removal solutions to reach net zero (see here).
DAC+S represents a permanent carbon removal solution and offers a powerful tool to achieve this goal.
Addressing historical emissions: DAC can help mitigate the impact of past emissions.
Complementing other climate solutions: DAC can work in conjunction with other climate mitigation strategies, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Negative emissions: By removing more CO₂ from the atmosphere than is emitted, DAC can contribute to negative emissions, helping to reverse the trend of rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.
Lead the race toward net zero
High-quality carbon removal for your climate strategy.