Our Polluted Skies Require Carbon Capture

The global community is determined to hit net zero by 2050 to avert a climate breakdown. But how is this possible when fossil fuels account for 80% of the world’s energy production? Several solutions are at hand, including carbon capture, which ensnares CO2 from the atmosphere and smokestack.

If we continue to use oil, natural gas, and coal, developing and commercializing carbon capture and sequestration is vital. However, it is an expensive and elusive technology, and multiple projects have fallen flat, including the U.S.-funded FutureGen and some private deals like Southern Company’s Kemper plant.

A company called Atoco says it has the technology to change that. It specializes in capturing CO2 once it is in the atmosphere, although its processes can also snag it at the industrial smokestack. Operational inefficiency is the primary obstacle, dramatically raising the cost. Atoco says it has a "new class of technology, " resulting in a 50% energy reduction in the lab.

“We have already polluted the atmosphere, and we are impacting global warming. This won’t stop today or tomorrow,” says Samer Taha, chief executive of Atoco, in an interview. “Even if we magically convert to all renewables, we must still remove the CO2 that has accumulated.

“Most technologies require high temperatures to separate the CO2,” he adds. “Our technology can separate the CO2 at 60 degrees Celcius. If you want to bring the cost down, improve the energy efficiency of the capture process.”

Experts say it costs $600 or $700 to capture a ton of atmospheric CO2. For this technology to scale, that must drop to $100 per ton. Most technologies are energy-inefficient, making it nearly impossible to ratchet down the price. Indeed, CO2 capture represents 80% to 90% of the costs.

Consider Swiss-based Climeworks, which has Iceland's largest direct air capture project globally: The company says that project will capture and store 36,000 metric tons annually of CO2. Microsoft Microsoft Corp. and Shopify want to use their services. Climeworks’ goal is to remove 10 billion tons of CO2 yearly by 2050—still a negligible number. The International Energy Agency says annual global emissions are 36.3 billion metric tons.

What Are The Options?

The global climate talks last year in Dubai resolved to triple the use of renewables, double energy efficiency, and end deforestation by 2030. But will that erode oil, coal, and natural gas usage—fuels with a 150-year headstart and the infrastructure to support continued growth? Fossil fuels comprise about 90% of the globe’s heat-trapping emissions.

The transition to renewables and clean technologies is doable. However, it requires a public investment and commitment. The International Energy Agency predicts that oil and gas will still comprise 46% of the global energy portfolio in 2040.

Pierre Friedlingstein of Exeter's Global Systems Institute said temperatures rose 1.1 degrees Celsius over the last year. If nothing changes—fossil fuel usage and deforestation rates remain unchanged—we will hit 1.5 degrees Celsius in 2030. That means more extreme weather patterns.

Renewables are the low-hanging fruit. Critics of carbon capture call it an expensive pipedream and a waste of public resources. The Petra Nova plant in Texas was the latest hyped carbon capture project to collapse. It cost $1 billion, which the United States and Japan funded.

What is the cost of not trying? That's why the U.S. Department of Energy will invest $3.5 billion to build four "direct air capture" facilities to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Once captured, the challenge is sequestering or using it to make industrial materials like cement or steel.

“In the world of carbon reduction, we are all collaborators trying to solve a problem. We all need to succeed because the problem is so huge,” says Martin Keighley, chief executive of San Antonio-based carbon capture company CarbonFree, in a previous interview. “Government funding gets things going.”

Atmospheric carbon levels are 50% greater than during the Industrial Revolution, necessitating action. Equinor, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total are partnering with a Norwegian carbon removal project called Glasnova. Their undertaking will transport liquid CO2 through pipelines to a reservoir beneath the bottom of the sea. Without large-scale storage, Norway can’t meet its climate obligations.

Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips , General Electric General Electric , and Shell are spending billions to develop coal gasification, carbon capture, and sequestration.

Atoco says its secret sauce is to compose and create new materials by combining building blocks that specialize in capturing CO2. It will conduct field trials next year. It is collaborating with "a couple of players on the East Coast," including the University of California at Berkeley, regarding intellectual property.

Innovators can capture CO2. Burying it is doable, although that part of the equation has its doubters. The key to success is slashing costs, allowing companies to scale development and commercialize the technology. Welcome Atoco, which is publicly optimistic about its chances.