Scaling direct air capture: deployment stage

Key take-aways:

• Climeworks introduces its second industry snapshot, a publication focusing on the trends and topics driving growth within the direct air capture (DAC) industry. In this iteration, Climeworks examines the increasing deployment of DAC technology, and the conditions necessary to further drive it.      
• Drawing on industry expertise, we examine the vital role of learnings in the field. As seen with Climeworks, learnings continuously shape the next phase of technology development.
• We analyze how DAC can develop at a quick pace, without compromising on key aspects of integrity and quality. Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) is crucial in guiding the decision-making for the standards supporting deployment - something that Climeworks is actively driving, as demonstrated by its recently validated direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) certification methodology. 
• Alongside this, DAC+S must also play a crucial role in supporting the environmental and social justice movements, by supporting local communities and driving equity.
• Finally, we look at perspectives from both the supply and demand side, first exploring how the voluntary carbon market has emerged as a key driver for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions. Likewise, we discuss how DAC must build a new, sustainable supply chain, to ensure successful growth at a global scale. 

Thank you to the expert contributors: Stephanie Arcusa (Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University), Carlos Härtel (Climeworks), Dr. David Hart (Center for Clean Energy Innovation), Stacy Kauk (Shopify), Anu Khan (Carbon180), Mijndert van der Spek (Heriot-Watt University), Prof. Dr. Gregory Nemet (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Simone H. Stewart (National Wildlife Federation).

You want to learn more?

Here's a handful of resources that our team finds very useful:

• An analysis by the International Energy Agency on the state of DAC
• A community-driven overview of CDR agreements by cdr.fyi
• An analysis by the World Resources Institute on DAC
• CarbonPlan's interactive tool on CDR verification confidence levels
• Climeworks' methodology for DAC, validated by DNV
• Carbfix' methodology for underground mineralization storage, validated by DNV
• Carbon180's white paper on how to base the scale-up of CDR on the principles of equity and justice
• An overview by Carbon Direct on the current state of the voluntary carbon market
• A framework by Carbon Gap on how to scale corporate funds for CDR

Missed our last snapshot? You can download it here: