PLEA Network

1 October 2018, QUARTZ, Climeworks has opened a third plant capturing carbon dioxide from the air. In an upcoming report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is likely to emphasize the need for a slew of techniques to not just cut emissions, but also suck carbon dioxide from the air. Climeworks, a Swiss startup, today (Oct. 1) opened its third such plant in the world. Every projection of the warming planet that looks to avoid catastrophic climate change says that we need to cut emissions to zero. But because we’ve been delaying action, the IPCC’s projections are being forced to include “negative emissions” to ensure global average temperatures don’t rise beyond 2°C—a goal set under the Paris climate agreement. Trees can suck carbon dioxide from the air. But we continue to put so much of it in the atmosphere that we have to deploy other technologies too, such as “direct air capture” (DAC). It involves using a fan to pass air over a surface containing a chemical agent that only reacts with carbon dioxide, then exposing the newly formed compound to heat. That energy breaks the bond, reversing the reaction and releasing carbon dioxide, which can be stored or put to some use. Climeworks has built and operated DAC plants for more than a year. In May 2017, it launched its first one, capable of capturing 900 metric tons annually, in Zurich, Switzerland. The carbon dioxide captured was fed to a greenhouse, which boosted the growth of the plants inside it. Last year, the company began operating the second, capturing 50 metric tons each year, near a geothermal power plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland. The captured gas is injected underground along with water, where it reacts with basalt rocks and turns into rock in less than two years. Read more here