How can CO2 be reduced in the atmosphere? A new technology filters carbon dioxide from the air like a large vacuum cleaner. An Essen start-up has put a pilot system into operation.
The machine is a bit reminiscent of an oversized Dixi toilet, but it promises big things: filtering CO2 out of the air. Basically a “giant vacuum cleaner” for climate-damaging emissions. It is a pilot plant that was launched by the Essen start-up Greenlyte Carbon Technologies. The machine should be able to filter up to seven kilos of CO2 per hour from the air. That’s about as much carbon dioxide as a tree binds in a year.
Co-founder has been researching for decades
A fan sucks the air into the tower of the system. There it comes into contact with a special liquid. “We developed the liquid so that it only extracts CO2 from the air,” says Florian Hildebrand, CEO of the Essen start-up. His co-founder Peter Behr has been researching this liquid for years.
In the system, the CO2 reacts in the liquid and comes out of the machine in the form of hydrogen carbonate. Dissolved in water, this substance can then be broken down in an electrolysis process. In addition to CO2, hydrogen and oxygen are also produced. “Carbon in particular is needed for almost everything, for example for plastic production,” explains Hildebrand. The company advertises that it can produce carbonic acid for beer, for example, from the CO2 obtained in crystal form.
The CO2 is obtained in crystallized form.
“Technology still in its infancy”
“Direct Air Storage” (DAC) is the name of the technology behind it and is being worked on worldwide. There are already 27 systems internationally, for example in the USA or Switzerland. According to the International Energy Agency, 130 systems are currently in the starting blocks. “But the technology is still in its infancy,” says Peter Viebahn from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Nevertheless, the scientist finds the technology important for reducing the CO2 concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Today it is still quite expensive to filter greenhouse gases from the air. It costs just under 600 euros for one ton of CO2; According to experts, in order to become suitable for the masses, the price would have to fall to 150 to 200 euros. The process also requires a lot of energy. “It’s a long-term development; it will take the next ten or twenty years until the technology is ready,” says Viebahn.
A contribution – not the sole solution
Start-up founder Hildebrand also emphasizes that the “giant vacuum cleaner” for CO2 is not the solution: “In the end, direct air capture is just the goalkeeper. Without a goalkeeper on a football field, it’s stupid. Playing with only one goalkeeper is also stupid. So it is another contribution to preventing the climate crisis, but it is not the sole solution.”
The company wants to suck one gigaton – a billion tons – of CO2 out of the air per year by 2050. Greenlyte Carbon Technologies has already sold the first commercial system. Nevertheless, they continue to test and research in Essen to make their system better and more efficient.