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

Abstract

Direct air capture (DAC) can provide an impactful, engineered approach to combat climate change by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. However, to meet climate goals, DAC needs to be scaled at a rapid rate. Current DAC approaches use engineered contactors filled with chemicals to repeatedly capture CO2 from the air and release high purity CO2 that can be stored or otherwise used. This review article focuses on two distinctive, commercial DAC processes to bind with CO2: solid sorbents and liquid solvents. We discuss the properties of solvents and sorbents, including mass transfer, heat transfer and chemical kinetics, as well as how these properties influence the design and cost of the DAC process. Further, we provide a novel overview of the considerations for deploying these DAC technologies, including concepts for learning-by-doing that may drive down costs and material requirements for scaling up DAC technologies.

Assessing the physical potential capacity of direct air capture with integrated supply of low‐carbon energy sources

“…McQueen et al. also highlight the modular nature of DAC, especially the solid‐sorbent based variation 15 . We propose building fully self‐sufficient DAC facilities independent of existing infrastructure.…”

“…Based on the local DNI, the calculated thermal LUE of 14.4%, the CHP cycle characteristics, and the DAC CHP consumption as given in Table 1, the land footprint of STDAC for a given site can be calculated. The area requirement for capturing 1 Mt CO 2 /year, which is the target plant size currently pursued by both Carbon Engineering and Global Thermostat, 15 is given in Fig. 1.…”

Synthetic Fuels in a Transport Transition: Fuels to Prevent a Transport Underclass

“…We have used a theory of change approach (Figure 1) to evaluate the transition to fully electric mobility, identifying gaps and hot spots in the process and policy development. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO 2 emissions from the atmosphere is one method to achieve net zero; however, it is currently expensive and not available at scale (McQueen et al, 2021).…”

Direct air capture of CO2viacrystal engineering

“…1,2 Direct air capture (DAC) refers to NETs that capture CO 2 from ambient air using engineered chemical processes. [3][4][5][6][7] DAC technologies have the potential to remove past emissions and restore the atmospheric CO 2 concentration to an optimal level below 350 ppm, and lower the global temperature back within the optimum range of the pre-industrial Holocene period. 8 DAC can also compensate for the CO 2 emissions from the economy sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as steel and cement industries, long-distance transportation and shipping, and on-demand reliable electricity, which together account for about 27% of the global CO 2 emissions.…”