{"id":262424,"date":"2024-05-20T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=262424"},"modified":"2024-05-14T08:11:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T07:11:34","slug":"worlds-largest-co2-removal-plant-opens-in-iceland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/05\/worlds-largest-co2-removal-plant-opens-in-iceland\/","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s Largest CO2 Removal Plant Opens in Iceland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mammoth, the world\u2019s largest direct air capture and storage plant, in Hellishei\u00f0i, Iceland.\u00a0 Climeworks<\/p><\/div>\n

9 May 2024 <\/em>– Swiss company Climeworks has opened the biggest operational direct air capture<\/a> (DAC) plant in the world to pull carbon dioxide<\/a> from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth plant, located in Iceland<\/a>, is nearly ten times bigger than Orca, its second-largest plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting operations of our Mammoth plant is another proof point in Climeworks\u2019 scale-up journey to megaton capacity by 2030 and gigaton by 2050,\u201d said Jan Wurzbacher<\/a>, Climeworks co-founder and co-CEO, in a press release from Climeworks.<\/p>\n

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Click to see video by (@climeworks): INSTAGRAM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The DAC process sucks carbon from the air and stores it, most often underground, where it can no longer contribute to global heating<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With global efforts to reduce fossil fuel<\/a> emissions inadequate to prevent the worsening effects of climate change<\/a>, United Nations scientists have estimated that carbon dioxide in the billions of tons will need to be removed to meet climate targets<\/a>, reported Reuters.<\/p>\n

Climeworks\u2019 new DAC plant has an annual carbon capture capacity of 36,000 metric tons. The Mammoth plant, begun in 2022, will be completed by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s first commercial DAC project was also in Iceland \u2014 the Orca plant \u2014 and has an annual capacity of 4,000 metric tons.<\/p>\n

\u201cMammoth has successfully started to capture its first CO\u2082. Climeworks uses renewable energy<\/a> to power its direct air capture process, which requires low-temperature heat like boiling water<\/a>. The geothermal energy<\/a> partner ON Power in Iceland provides the energy necessary for this process,\u201d Climeworks said. \u201cOnce the CO\u2082 is released from the filters, storage partner Carbfix transports the CO\u2082 underground, where it reacts with basaltic rock through a natural process, which transforms into stone, and remains permanently stored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics of carbon capture technology argue that it uses an enormous amount of energy, is expensive and that focusing on the removal of carbon from the atmosphere could encourage companies to continue burning fossil fuels rather than lowering their emissions. Many critics also emphasize that its effectiveness has not been proven.<\/p>\n

Speaking about carbon capture in general, Lili Fuhr<\/a>, Center for International Environmental Law\u2019s fossil economy program director, said the technology \u201cis fraught with uncertainties and ecological risks,\u201d as CNN reported.<\/p>\n

The total carbon removal capacity on Earth can only remove roughly 0.01 million metric tons per year of the 70 million tons<\/a> that would need to be removed by the end of the decade to meet worldwide climate goals, the International Energy Agency said.<\/p>\n

Climeworks \u2014 which does not have ties to fossil fuel companies \u2014 said it is looking to lower the costs of DAC technology to $400 to $600 per ton by the end of the decade and $200 to $350 a ton by 2040, reported Reuters.<\/p>\n

Development is currently in the works for megaton Climeworks hubs in the United States, the press release said.<\/p>\n