The world’s largest plant designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and turn it into a solid mineral has started running, the companies behind the project said on Wednesday.
The plant is named “Orca,” after the Icelandic word “orka” meaning “energy,” and is the result of a partnership between Swiss start-up Climeworks AG, which specializes in capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air, and the Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix.
The Guardian reports that when operating at full capacity, the plant will be able to draw 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the air every year, according to the two companies.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, that equates to the emissions from about 870 cars. The plant cost between US$10 and 15 million to build, Bloomberg reported.
Storing carbon dioxide using carbon mineralization
The Orca plant consists of eight large containers similar in looks to those used in the shipping industry, which employs large fans with high-tech filters to extract carbon dioxide.
Once the filter material is filled with CO2, the collector is closed and the temperature is raised to release the CO2 from the material, after which the highly concentrated gas can be collected.
The concentrated gas is then mixed with water and injected to a depth of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) in the basalt, a hard, black volcanic rock where the mixture will solidify into a solid mineral, usually in about two years.
The technologies involved in this process are powered by renewable energy sourced from a nearby geothermal power plant, reports Reuters.
This process is called carbon mineralization. It is a chemical reaction that occurs when certain rocks are exposed to carbon dioxide. The biggest advantage of carbon mineralization is that the carbon cannot escape back to the atmosphere.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), most of the rocks that have the potential for carbon mineralization are igneous or metamorphic, as opposed to porous sedimentary rocks.
Proponents of so-called carbon capture and storage believe these technologies can become a major tool in the fight against climate change. However, critics of the technology argue that it is prohibitively expensive and might take decades to operate at scale.
But as Reuters points out, prices are being driven down as more companies and consumers look to reduce their carbon footprint. There are currently 15 direct air capture plants operating worldwide, capturing more than 9,000 tons of CO2 per year, according to the IEA.
