Turning the Tide: Innovative Technologies Cleaning Our Oceans and Air, Part 2 or 2

Today, we will introduce innovative ways to reduce atmospheric levels of CO2. There are two key solutions and they target CO2 at different stages.

The first solution is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS). CCS focuses on capturing and storing carbon dioxide to reduce emissions, while CCUS takes it a step further by reusing the captured CO2 for various industrial applications. Both solutions address emissions from fossil fuel use in electricity generation and industrial processes. Once captured, the CO2 can be injected into deep geological formations, such as depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers, where it can be securely stored for extended periods.

Now, we will explain the second solution: Direct Air Capture (DAC). While traditional carbon capture methods focus on containing CO2 emissions at their sources, such as large industrial plants like steel and cement works, direct air capture technologies extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location, regardless of its origins. The captured carbon can then be injected deep underground, reused, or solidified for long-term storage.

But despite the benefits and flexibility, DAC requires energy and material to capture and process CO2, which leads to high cost.

A leader in the field of successful Direct Air Capture (DAC) is the Swiss company Climeworks. Climeworks’ latest “Generation 3” technology can capture twice as much CO2 from the atmosphere as the previous version. It also uses half the energy and costs half as much overall per ton of CO2 removed. Climeworks aims to reduce current capture costs from around US$1,000 per ton to US$250-$350 per ton by 2030.

While carbon capture and removal technologies address CO2, methane is another greenhouse gas that plays a significant role in climate change and animal-people industrial raising operations is a major atmospheric source. Based on Methane SAT’s data, the world’s first satellite dedicated to detecting methane emissions, the leading American non-profit organization Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) found that cutting methane emissions would be the fastest way to halt global warming.