What is Direct Air Capture? A Technical Explainer

[@WeAreBikeScouts]

Just curious, where are these carbon capture plants getting power from?

[@ElSantoLuchador]

Carbon capture (CCS) occurs at the site, so if it's a coal plant then... For Direct Air Capture (DAC) it's a problem. It requires a lot of energy and it would be sort of pointless to power it up with a coal plant. Coal plants and NG plants typically use a secondary source for power, usually through captured heat and steam turbines (energy that would otherwise be wasted).

[@mitchmorrison7791]

@@ElSantoLuchador , what kind of cost are we looking at to erect a DAC facility? i'm guessing that prohibitive costs make this impossible to construct on smaller scales?

[@kunjiraman2489]

​@@mitchmorrison7791Blackrocks have just invested 550m . The overall new budget estimate looks at 1.5b$.

[@rprater9]

Ultimately They get power from the grid, but many such plants are purchasing renewable power from open markets.

[@TexasDroneSpecialist]

There will be a solar farm next to the plant.

[@f-86zoomer37]

All right, so how many kilowatthours will be used? Will it take out more carbon than is produced by a power plant based on the kWh it uses to do so?

[@carlfromm8181]

This sexy/salesy "technical explainer" video kind-of-explains the process used . However, it seriously lacks any technical and economic performance info - e.g. how much energy the process needs to capture and sequester a ton of CO2 (MJ/ton CO2), how this energy would be generated and at what carbon penalty, how much would it cost to run ($/ton CO2 ) and how it compares with carbon cost today, how does net carbon removal effectiveness goes down if captured CO2 is used for secondary oil recovery (Occidental's embarassing scheme), etc., etc. Good start, but needs a major sequel !

[@samclayton270]

Secondary recovery of oil is not embarrassing. That oil would be recovered anyway using gas injection (water, methane or CO2), and once the oilfield is depleted it can be leveraged as permanent CO2 storage. Yes - only the net CO2 sequestered should be counted as 'removed' from the atmosphere. Right now this new tech is expensive (and unprofitable) to build, so it needs some way of paying for it - and secondary oil recovery can help here. Hopefully then with the learning curve and experience, costs can come down over the next decade.

[@kermitbeckmann8004]

This is bullshit technology! The amount of power necessary and capital far outweigh the slightest benefit! One volcanic eruption wipes out everything we are doing now.

[@Ramzblood]

​@@samclayton270 it's just another green scam.

[@Kevin-ip8uf]

My thoughts exactly. Be neat to run the plant on solar power or tidal generators or something, but for natural gas power plants (or god forbid coal), there's going to be plenty of carbon released from combustion. I wonder how this compares to cryodistilled CO2 processes (if you disregard their recovery of argon, hydrogen, oxygen, and whatever else they can sell on the market for gases)

[@phucnguyeninh7311]

Just a question, why they use KOH instead of NaOH. Although they have the sane reaction efficiency and NaOH is way cheaper, lighter?

[@TheStrandedSavant]

Oxy uses its own products so the cost is small

[@phucnguyeninh7311]

@@TheStrandedSavant alright, thank you

[@VedanshiMehta-i1g]

Is it possible to connect these plant to solar energy for power supply?

[@YusefNilson]

yes all these plants are run off renewable energy

[@Ramzblood]

​@@YusefNilson how?

[@bryanmonkhouse5800]

yes it is essential to maximize the environmental benefit

[@TheStrandedSavant]

​@@Ramzbloodwe built a solar field next too the facility that produces power in excess of what is made.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

This is very impressive but I don't see how it can make a significant difference when all it does is remove carbon dioxide in the immediate vicinity of the DAC plant. Shouldn't the priority be to capture CO2 directly from its source i.e. where it is being pumped into the atmosphere in vast quantities rather than after diffusion has taken place?

[@ElSantoLuchador]

That what CCS is. It's captured at the source. CCS is not DAC.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

@@ElSantoLuchador Yes, I know. I'm saying that it would be far better to prioritise capturing CO2 at its source rather than taking it from the air when the CO2 has already been massively diluted by diffusion.

[@samclayton270]

@@ppuh6tfrz646 We probably have to do both. Even if you capture 100% of all newly emitted CO2 at source, we would likely want to lower CO2 in the atmosphere from where it is today, which means you need to have DAC at industrial scale. The reality is that we will still be emitting CO2 from sources like agriculture, cars, planes and other smaller point sources where it really hard (or impossible) to eliminate, so DAC is your method for offsetting those emissions that you couldn't avoid.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

@@samclayton270 I just don't see how DAC can make a meaningful difference. Only 0.04% (1 in 2500) of the air contains carbon. That's such a tiny concentration that carbon capture and storage seems far more effective. Also DAC will not be able to remove carbon that is higher in the atmosphere because it would be 'out of reach'.

[@samclayton270]

The atmosphere mixes - think wind. DAC is a form of carbon capture, and re-read my reply - I think we have to do both. Capturing at source might not be enough.

[@AG-bm2nl]

The most inefficient way is calcium carbonate cycle. ~850 degreeC. It is a huge energy flow.

[@fredbloke3218]

The bottom line is the cost per ton, the average USA citizen creates about 15 tons per year, at $400 per ton removed that is $24,000 for a family of 4, good luck selling that idea to the voters, if carbon credits are being generated the removal is cancelled out by the buyer of the credits.

[@mrfrano100]

Guess 100 per ton will be more like it. But still…point taken

[@biorotterdamforenergyconsu1241]

Direct Air Capture Technical Explainer

[@rolandchemali1447]

We should all get behind this compelling technology. We cannot just sit around and wait for a miracle.

[@jagboy69]

What a scam. My town is installing these things near a wind farm. Remember, sell the sizzle and not the steak.

[@googlesucks7021]

The earth is carbon starving. We need more CO2. Plant food. Climate change has always been a depopulation program. You are the carbon they want to eliminate.

[@TheStrandedSavant]

So you would rather not capture extra and provide jobs like 1300 jobs

[@jagboy69]

@TheStrandedSavant Those jobs are 90day jobs.. And the last thing we want are more windmills when you live in the permian basin. Drill baby DRILL!

[@TheStrandedSavant]

​@@jagboy69 3 year jobs

[@TheStrandedSavant]

​@jagboy69 id prefer diversity that way i dont have have to worry about all the cheap trucks and houses for sale on the market from mass lay offs

[@ahmadnorhadi818]

🫡🫡🫡🫡

[@NickyMitchell85]

This might be a climate saviour.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

It won't. The amount of CO2 that will be captured is absolutely tiny. CCS is a far more effective and cost efficient option.

[@TheStrandedSavant]

Its more like an offset

[@TheStrandedSavant]

​@@ppuh6tfrz646thats why you use both . Dac is basically mop a ccs is like vaccum dust collection. Efficiency is vast from one to the the other but every bit helps .