The world's largest direct CO2 capture plant is in operation

The world's largest plant designed to suck carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) out of the atmosphere like a giant vacuum machine began operating in Iceland on May 8.

_{Mammoth is the second direct CO2} capture commercial plant opened by Swiss company Climeworks in Iceland, 10 times larger than its predecessor, the Orca plant, which began operations in 2021, according to CNN . Direct CO ₂ capture (DAC) is a technology designed to absorb air and chemically filter carbon. The carbon is then buried deep underground, reused or transformed into solid products.

Climeworks plans to transport the carbon underground, where it will transform into rock during natural processes. They are working with Icelandic company Carbfix for this seizure process. The entire operation takes place using Iceland's clean and abundant geothermal energy.

Climeworks' Mammoth factory in Hellisheiði, Iceland began operating on May 8. (Photo: Oli Haukur Myrdal/Climeworks).

Next-generation climate solutions like DAC are attracting more and more attention from governments and private companies as people continue to burn fossil fuels. Atmospheric CO ₂ concentrations will reach a record high in 2023. As the planet continues to warm with many negative consequences for nature and humans, many scientists say the world needs to find a way to eliminate CO ₂ from the atmosphere accompanied by fossil fuel reduction.

_{However, CO 2} removal technology like DAC is still controversial. Opponents say the technology is expensive, requires a lot of energy and cannot be proven effective on a large scale. Some climate campaigners also worry they could distract policymakers from cutting fossil fuels. The technology is fraught with uncertainties and ecological risks, according to Lili Fuhr, director of the fossil economy program at the Center for International Environmental Law.

Climeworks began construction on Mammoth in June 2022, and the company says it is the world's largest direct _CO2 capture commercial plant. Mammoth has a modular design with space for 72 "collection chambers" , the vacuum part of the machine that captures CO ₂ from the air, can be stacked and moved easily. Currently, 12 of these chambers have been installed with many more to be added over the next few months. Mammoth will absorb a total of 36,000 tons of CO2 _from the atmosphere a year when running at full capacity, equivalent to taking about 7,800 gas-powered vehicles off the road each year.

Climeworks did not disclose the exact cost to remove one ton of CO ₂ , but revealed a figure closer to $1,000/ton instead of $100/ton, the key threshold for the technology to be cheap and viable. As the company increases factory size and reduces costs, its goal is to reach $300-$350/ton by 2030 and $100/ton by 2050, according to Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and director of Climeworks .

The new plant is an important step in the fight against climate change , according to Stuart Haszeldine, professor of _CO2 capture and storage at the University of Edinburgh. But he emphasized that this is still small scale compared to demand. All the world's _CO2 removal equipment can only remove about 0.01 million tons per year, far short of the 70 million tons needed by 2030 to meet global climate goals, according to the Agency. international energy agency.

_{According to Wurzbacher, Mammoth is just the latest phase in a plan to scale up CO2} capture to one million tons/year by 2030 and one billion tons by 2050. The plan includes potential DAC plants in Kenya and America.