Direct Air Capture - Advances and Opportunities

CO₂ direct air capture technology continues to undergo significant technology, engineering and early commercialization advances. Multiple pilot and demonstration facilities employing different capture technologies have been in operation, and niche commercial facilities are now onstream. Yet skepticism regarding direct air capture’s future is still widespread. Surprisingly, the thermodynamic climb up from 400+ ppm CO₂ concentration does not impose an insurmountable economic barrier. Rather, Direct Air Capture eliminates many location constraints associated with point source capture and provides important supply chain advantages and opportunities. However, there remains key challenges and unique solutions. Here, the state of Direct Air Capture will be reviewed, dissecting the perceived obstacles to technical and economic acceptance, and comparing the different process technologies employed or proposed. A new design and techno-economic analysis for a “passive” system which does not impose the substantial energy demand associated with forced convection of bulk air will be described.