![]() ![]() It also includes initial analysis of the broader impacts of DAC technology development, in terms of material, land and water use.” The study uses an extensive sensitivity analysis. It includes two DAC technologies, with different energy inputs and cost assumptions, and a range of energy inputs including waste heat. “This is the first inter-model comparison… has the most detailed representation of DAC so far used in IAMs. Study author Dr Ajay Gambhir, senior research fellow at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, explains to Carbon Brief: Today’s new study explores how DAC could help meet global climate goals with “lower costs”, using two different integrated assessment models (IAMs). If the CO2 is then buried underground, the process is sometimes referred to as direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). One alternative is direct air capture, where machines are used to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere. The significant potential role for BECCS raises a number of concerns, with land areas up to five times the size of India devoted to growing the biomass needed in some model pathways. This is where biomass, such as wood pellets, is burned to generate electricity and the resulting CO2 is captured and stored. However, model pathways developed by researchers rely most heavily on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage ( BECCS). This catch-all term covers a wide range of approaches, including planting trees, restoring peatlands and other “ natural climate solutions”. Meeting this ambition will require the use of “ negative emissions technologies” to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The 2015 Paris Agreement set a goal of limiting human-caused warming to “well below” 2C and an ambition of staying below 1.5C. ![]() He tells Carbon Brief that his firm nevertheless “continuously push back on the ‘magic bullet’ headlines”. This means policymakers should not see DAC as a “panacea” that can replace immediate efforts to cut emissions, one of the study authors tells Carbon Brief, adding: “The risks of that are too high.”ĭAC should be seen as a “backstop for challenging abatement” where cutting emissions is too complex or too costly, says the chief executive of a startup developing the technology. It shows that a “massive” and energy-intensive rollout of the technology could cut the cost of limiting warming to 1.5 or 2C above pre-industrial levels.īut the study also highlights the “clear risks” of assuming that DAC will be available at scale, with global temperature goals being breached by up to 0.8C if the technology then fails to deliver. ![]() The research, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to explore the use of direct air capture (DAC) in multiple computer models. Finally, the report identifies the key drivers for direct air capture investment and priorities for policy action.Machines that suck CO2 directly from the air could cut the cost of meeting global climate goals, a new study finds, but they would need as much as a quarter of global energy supplies in 2100. It considers the current status of these technologies, their potential for cost reductions, their future energy needs, and the optimal locations for direct air capture facilities. This report explores the growing momentum behind direct air capture, together with the opportunities and challenges for scaling up the deployment of direct air capture technologies consistent with net zero goals. The first large-scale direct air capture 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. Currently 18 direct air capture facilities are operating in Canada, Europe and the United States. In the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, direct air capture 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. Air-captured CO 2 can also be used as a climate-neutral feedstock for a range of products that require a source of carbon. 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 plays an important and growing role in net zero pathways. ![]()
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