Private and philanthropic investment is also growing: leading DAC companies have raised around USD 125 million in capital since the start of 2020 and companies ranging from Microsoft to United Airlines are investing in early projects. The United States also launched a Carbon Negative Shot during COP26, identifying DAC among a portfolio of CDR approaches with potential to remove CO 2 and durably store it, at scale, for under USD 100/tCO 2. New R&D funding is forthcoming in Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. This includes USD 3.5 billion to develop four DAC hubs and a USD 115 million DAC Prize programme in the United States. Since the start of 2020, governments have committed almost USD 4 billion in funding specifically for DAC development and deployment. Governments and industry are getting behind DAC. The first large-scale DAC plant of up to 1 MtCO 2/year is in advanced development and is expected to be operating in the United States by the mid-2020s. All but two of these facilities sell their CO 2 for use, and the largest such plant – commissioned in Iceland in September 2021 – is capturing 4 000 tCO 2/year for storage (via mineralisation). Currently 18 DAC facilities are operating in Canada, Europe and the United States. Capturing CO2 from the air can support net zero goalsĭAC plants currently operate at a small scale, but with plans to grow. In the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario around 350 Mt of air-captured CO 2 is used to produce synthetic fuels in 2050, including for aviation, supporting one of the few options available to reduce emissions in the sector. Air-captured CO 2 can be used as a climate-neutral feedstock for a range of products that require a source of carbon, from beverages to chemicals and synthetic aviation fuels. The contribution of DAC goes beyond carbon removal. DAC with geological CO 2 storage has several advantages as a CDR approach, including a relatively small land and water footprint, and high degree of assurance in both the permanence of the storage and the quantification of CO 2 removed. CDR approaches range from nature-based solutions such as afforestation to technology-based approaches underpinned by carbon capture and storage. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is not an alternative to cutting emissions or an excuse for delaying action, but is part of a comprehensive strategy for “net” zero – where emissions being released are ultimately balanced with emissions removed. In the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, DAC technologies capture more than 85 Mt of CO 2 in 2030 and around 980 MtCO 2 in 2050, requiring a large and accelerated scale-up from almost 0.01 MtCO 2 today.ĭAC is a key part of the carbon removal portfolio. Capturing CO 2 directly from the air and permanently storing it removes the CO 2 from the atmosphere, providing a way to balance emissions that are difficult to avoid, including from long-distance transport and heavy industry, as well as offering a solution for legacy emissions. Direct air capture (DAC) plays an important and growing role in net zero pathways.
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