In Oregon, 280 Earth, Inc. recently announced that it has completed construction and started operating a direct air capture facility to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change. The captured CO2 can be permanently sequestered underground or used as a feedstock for industrial uses such as synthetic fuels, carbon negative concrete, or food production.
280 Earth’s facility provides a commercial demonstration of several years of research and development by X, The Moonshot Factory, Alphabet’s innovation lab to grow and commercialize the unique, low-cost DAC technology. The overall process and purpose of DAC is to achieve carbon dioxide removal and be a “negative emissions technology.” To reach net zero by 2050, the International Energy Agency believes we’ll need to scale DAC to capture more than 980 megatons of carbon dioxide a year by 2050.
The first phase of the commercial demonstration facility is designed to capture up to 500 tons per year of CO2, as well as water, from ambient air. The captured CO2 will be liquified and sequestered off-site or used in various industrial processes, while the related water can be used for cooling or other end uses. The facility is extensively instrumented to validate scale up plans for 280 Earth’s technology as it progresses to a 5,000 ton per year module.
