Climate Change Mitigation with Direct Air Capture
A new technical brief from the À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Climate Institute explores Direct Air Capture (DAC) as an innovative engineering approach to directly removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Contributing to the overall reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels, DAC has the potential to effectively mitigate climate change, when used in combination with permanent storage solutions.Â
The technical brief provides an overview of thermochemical technology, which currently dominates the industry, and electrochemical technology, exploring how each one works to capture CO2 from the air. Taking a deep dive into the processes of each technology, including extraction and regeneration, the benefits and challenges, like cost, are highlighted.Â
Authors Monica Ho, Vahid Barahimi and Eric Croiset outline the current readiness of DAC technologies and acknowledge their limitations:Â
As DAC is a relatively new industry, it has the opportunity to be implemented in an environmentally, socially and economically just manner. As with any large infrastructure undertaking, proper environmental assessments should be conducted to reduce the impact on local flora, fauna, water resources, and any existing industry such as agriculture, not only during construction but during the lifetime of the plant.
As more technologies and their versatility are explored, DAC holds the potential to reach negative emission technology status, contributing more effectively to climate change mitigation and even reversal. Â