World's first wind-powered CO2 capture facility

The Concho facility is expected to remove 500,000 tons of CO2 _per year from the atmosphere and bury it underground, helping to combat climate change.

Concho , the world's first wind-powered _CO2 capture facility, will be built in Tom Green County, Texas, Interesting Engineering reported on November 22.

Simulation of a direct wind-powered _{CO2 capture facility. (Photo: Return Carbon).}

The facility uses direct air capture (DAC) technology, which captures CO2 _directly from the ambient air, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 _in the atmosphere. This can help combat climate change and slow global warming.

Unlike other carbon capture methods that need to be applied at the source of carbon emissions, DAC can be deployed anywhere, even on land that cannot be farmed. However, because CO2 concentrations are _much lower in the air, the technology requires more energy and also increases costs. To overcome this problem, the Concho project is testing DAC deployment with cheap energy from a wind farm.

Concho is a joint project between Return Carbon and Verified Carbon , two companies involved in the clean energy transition in the Netherlands and the US. The project will use DAC equipment from Skytree Stratus, a spin-off company of the European Space Agency (ESA). Skytree Stratus' patented equipment is easy to install at any scale and can be upgraded on-site as the captured material grows over time. The entire capture facility will be powered by a nearby wind farm built and operated by energy producer Greenalia.

In its initial phase, Concho aims to remove 50,000 tons of CO2 _per year by 2030. But with expansion plans, the project could remove 500,000 tons of CO2 _per year from the atmosphere. The CO2 _extracted from the air will be stored underground. The project will also generate carbon credits for sale on the market.

The world's first wind-based carbon capture project benefits both clean energy producers and DAC technology. DAC guarantees energy consumption from the wind farm and receives cheap electricity. Meanwhile, carbon credits help move towards a greener future.