Carbon capture technology is gaining attention as a potential solution to climate change, but its effectiveness and efficiency are still being debated. Direct air capture (DAC) facilities, like the Mammoth plant in Iceland, aim to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere and store it underground. The Mammoth plant, developed by Swiss firm Climeworks, currently has 12 collector containers installed and plans to expand to 72, enabling it to capture 36,000 tons of CO2 annually.
The process involves sucking in large amounts of air, capturing the CO2 with filters, and then storing it deep underground, where it turns into stone. While the technology is impressive, it comes with high costs and energy consumption. Climeworks spends nearly $1,000 to capture and store a tonne of CO2, requiring electricity.
The company sells carbon offsets to clients like Microsoft, H&M, and Lego to make money.
Debate over carbon capture effectiveness
Critics argue that capturing CO2 directly from smokestacks would be more efficient than removing it from the atmosphere.
They also point out that the current scale of carbon removal is nowhere near what would be needed to impact global warming significantly. Despite the challenges, more DAC projects are being developed. The U.S. government has allocated $3.5 billion to kickstart three large-scale hubs to remove a mega-tonne of CO2 per year.
However, some experts caution against relying too heavily on technological solutions, which might discourage polluters from changing their ways. Research from Stanford University suggests that carbon capture technologies might cause more harm than good. Professor Mark Jacobson’s analysis indicates that carbon capture equipment captures only 10-11 percent of emissions produced over 20 years and has higher social costs than replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.
The debate continues whether carbon capture is a viable solution to address climate change or a counter-productive distraction from more effective measures like transitioning to renewable energy and reducing emissions at the source.
