Module 6: Direct Air Capture


What if we didn’t need to rely on biological or geological processes at all to capture carbon and we could do it directly, pulling carbon directly out of the air using chemistry? It sure costs a lot per ton removed, but Direct Air Capture (DAC) is a completely engineered negative emissions technology that can make use of chemical sorbents, solvents, or electric currents to capture CO2, potentially at scale.

High Flyer

1. A New Way To Remove CO2 From the Atmosphere

TED Talk - Dr. Jennifer Wilcox

Dr. Jennifer Wilcox, now the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy in the Biden Administration, gives a TED talk outlining the basic chemical process for DAC and some of the major energetic and economic concerns associated.

Video - 14 min

2. Direct Air Capture: Resource Considerations and Costs for Carbon Removal

World Resources Institute

A magical machine that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere? Climate change solved, right? Well, not so fast. This WRI overview gives a first look at the enormous resources requirements for direct air capture, especially energy but also land, water, and cost.

Article - 14 min

3. Reality check on technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the air

MIT Energy Initiative

A study by MIT's Energy Initiative warns that many climate stabilization strategies overly rely on optimistic assumptions about the scalability and cost-effectiveness of direct air capture (DAC) technologies, potentially undermining their projected impact on reducing atmospheric CO₂ levels. Despite these concerns, the researchers advocate for continued investment in DAC development to ensure it becomes a viable tool in the broader effort to mitigate climate change.

Article - 20 min

Climate Student

4. Deep Dive on Direct Air Capture with Dr. Jennifer Wilcox

AirMiners Conference

This Air Miners webinar again with Dr. Wilcox dives much deeper into the science and technology behind direct air capture, distinguishing between the process and economics for liquid solvent and solid sorbent DAC.

Video - 66 min

5. Direct Air Capture 1: General Overview

Jack Andreasen

This three part series (this one, and the two articles below) go into detail about how direct air capture actually works in a very helpful way. These different mechanisms will come up all the time in DAC conversations, so worth having a basic idea of how they work even if you don't understand all the science.

Article - 15 min

6. Direct Air Capture 2: Removal Mechanisms

Jack Andreasen

Part two of Jack’s three part series. This one dives deeper into the “sponge” aspect of the technology that removes carbon from the atmosphere.

Article - 15 min

7. Direct Air Capture 3: Regeneration Mechanisms

Jack Andreasen

The final part of Jack’s series on DAC focuses on the final stage of the process - the “release” of the absorbed carbon dioxide molecules in order to be stored/utilized.

Article - 15 min

8. The future of DAC is knocking

Peter Minor

This quick article highlights the ways that DAC companies have been evolving in the last few years, beyond the initial fans + solvent or sorbent classification. Very readable and inspiring!

Article - 10 min

9. The Permitting Program Crucial for Carbon Capture’s Success

ClearPath

We'll look at storage more in the next module, but sequestering gaseous CO2 in wells requires permitting that currently isn't set up very well in the United States. Learn about those rules and how they might be improved here.

Article - 10 min

12. Sustaera with Shantanu Agarwal, CEO

This is CDR

This video from Sustaera, an emerging company in the DAC space, points towards a lot of the themes we've seen already in this module but from the perspective of a startup on the ground. Learn more about their DAC 2.0 approach.

Video - 58 min

13. The cost of direct air capture

Carbon Plan (Noah McQueen et al)

This article by Carbon Plan analyzes the cost of different direct air capture systems depending on a variety of input parameters, from energy source to size and lifespan of the facility. Be sure to check out the interactive calculator and play around a little bit!

Article - 20 min

14. A scalable direct air capture process based on accelerated weathering of calcium hydroxide

Heirloom

Heirloom is a new company that bridges the divide between this module on DAC and next module on mineralization. They have an automated approach that uses carbon-hungry magnesium minerals as their sorbent. Their whitepaper is accessible and interesting.

Article - 30 min

10. Three Ways Modularity Can Help Scale Up Carbon Removal

CarbonCurve

This article looks at how incorporating modular systems for engineered removals solutions can bring costs down and lead to a more scalable CDR industry.

Article - 10 min

11. Carbon removal efficiency and energy requirement of engineered carbon removal technologies

Royal Society of Chemistry

This research paper consists of a harmonized lifecycle greenhouse gas assessment to compare the carbon removal efficiency and total energy required for twelve engineered carbon removal technologies. The goal of this comparison is to enable the assessment of diverse engineered carbon removal approaches on a consistent basis.

Report - 30 min

Climate Master

15. Direct Air Capture: Capitalizing on the Defining Decade for Technology Development

Third Derivative

This report is a bit technical, but I'd recommend reading or skimming it anyway for a really good perspective on the cost drivers of DAC and what innovations are in the works to drive costs down. Note: This resource is slightly outdated (published in December 2021) so some of the players listed in the report (like Heirloom) are no longer in lab stage.

Report - 90 min

16. A review of direct air capture (DAC): scaling up commercial technologies and innovating for the future

Noah McQueen et al

Get into the weeds of direct air capture science with this detailed literature review paper from last year.

Report - 90 min

17. The DAC-up Plan for Climate Change

Reversing Climate Change

Listen to a less formal chat with Jen Wilcox as she discussses her evolving views on CCS, the chemical engineering idea of Sherwood's rule, how techno-economic assessments work for direct air capture, and how DAC may scale up in the coming decades.

Podcast - 58 min


18. An Overview of the Status and Challenges of CO2 Storage in Minerals and Geological Formations

Frontiers In Climate

This piece provides a comprehensive review of carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration methods, focusing on geological storage and mineral carbonation. It examines the current state of these technologies, their potential for large-scale CO₂ removal, and the challenges they face, including technical, economic, and regulatory hurdles. The authors discuss various storage options, such as saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and reactive rock formations, highlighting their capacities and readiness levels. Additionally, the article emphasizes the need for significant investment and research to advance these technologies to gigaton-scale deployment, suggesting a research agenda requiring approximately $1 billion over 10–20 years to achieve meaningful progress in CO₂ sequestration efforts.

Report - 45 min