Direct air-capture tech doubles carbon-dioxide uptake
Climeworks' Generation 3 direct air-capture technology reportedly doubles CO2 carbon capture per module.
The company says the new tecnology halves energy consumption and costs, and triples material lifetimes.
It will be first deployed in the US and then replicated globally on secured project sites.
The technology and design has been developed over five years and was implemented at full scale for the first time in June 2024 at its largest testing facility in Switzerland.
Climeworks notes that the testing confirms a breakthrough in efficiency and performance due to the embedded carbon-dioxide filter systems.
The structured sorbent materials in Generation 3 replace packed filter beds previously used - which it says increases surface contact with the CO2, reducing the time to capture release and so capturing more than twice as much as previous filters.
The company aims to reduce costs by US$250-350/t captured and US$400-600/t for net removal by 2030, representing an overall cost reduction of up to 50%.
The first plant will be built in Louisiana in the US as part of the megaton-scale Project Cypress DAC Hub, funded by the US Department of Energy. Construction, which is set to begin in 2026, would be a tenfold scale-up towards megaton capacity.
The firm is also developing projects in Norway, Kenya and Canada to try and achieve gigatonne capacity.
