A giant rises from the ground: the largest CO2 capture installation in the world!

© Maxim Tolchinskiy/Unsplash

To combat the effects of global warming, many technologies exist, including one which has largely proven its effectiveness: DAC, for Direct Air Capture. It allows CO2 to be captured directly from the ambient air, thus helping to reduce the quantity of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. In the heart of the volcanic lands of Iceland, the Swiss unicorn Climeworks announces the start-up of Mammoth, the most imposing installation of its kind ever built by man.

A new titan

Deployed in the Hellisheiði geothermal power plant, Mammoth surpasses its predecessor, Orca, also located in Iceland. The latter is capable of capturing nearly 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Climeworks, the company behind Mammoth, has the backing of tech giants like Microsoft, Stripe and Shopify. This support perfectly demonstrates the growing confidence in the potential of the DAC to contribute to the decarbonization of the atmosphere. The expansion of DAC technology is particularly expected in the country of Uncle Sam, where CO2 emissions are among the highest in the world. world. The large-scale deployment of Mammoth and other similar facilities could play a key role in achieving the country's ambitious climate goals.

The DAC, a major ally

The DAC industry receives particularly strong political support in the United States. The Biden administration has allocated a comfortable envelope of $3.5 billionto develop at least four DAC hubs, marking a strong commitment to this technology.

Two large projects have already been selected to benefit from&# 8217;funding of up to $1.2 billion, which will help bring large-scale projects to fruition and advance DAC technology more quickly.

However, despite this very positive momentum, major challenges still remain. The main obstacle to the global adoption of this technology is its very high cost. In addition to the economic aspect, the DAC is not free from defects. Indeed, the use of polluting energy sources(coal, oil, natural gas, etc.) to power the capture processes still remains a problem and remains a factor limiting the positive environmental impact of this technology.

There is also local opposition, because it is necessary to build massive pipelines to operate these facilities. These are needed to transport captured CO2 to storage sites. Climeworks and its partners will therefore have to find common ground to reconcile their ambitions with the concerns of local communities. Despite this, the Swiss company, whose new headquarters is now located in Austin (Texas) seems optimistic about the future of DAC in the United States< /strong> and hopes to accelerate its expansion by adapting its strategies according to local particularities.

• Swiss company Climework has inaugurated the world's largest industrial CO2 capture facility.
• Named Mammoth, it is located in Iceland and can capture 36& nbsp;000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
• DAC is a rapidly expanding technology, widely supported by American policymakers and other companies. However, it is not perfect and certain factors still limit its adoption.

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