A carbon capture plant in Iceland began operations on the 8th. This is currently the world's largest plant that captures carbon directly from the air. The captured carbon dioxide is extracted and mixed with water, and finally pumped into the ground about 1,000 meters deep. It is expected to turn into stone within a few years.
The factory is called "Oka", which is pronounced the same as "Energy" in Icelandic. It is located on a deserted plateau in southwestern Iceland. The main body is four groups of huge rectangular boxes, each of which consists of two boxes arranged up and down. Each box is similar in size to a large standard container, about 12 meters long, with 12 fans embedded in it. The fan "captures" the carbon dioxide in the air into the sponge filter. The filter is heated to a temperature about the boiling water, thereby releasing carbon dioxide gas. This high-concentration carbon dioxide is mixed with water and is pumped into the depths of a basalt cave about 1,000 meters underground, where it gradually cools down and gradually turns into dark gray stone over time.
According to the US "Washington Post" report, the factory was built in Iceland. The first reason is that Iceland's underground geological conditions are suitable for easy carbon capture, and the other is that the island country has sufficient and environmentally friendly geothermal resources.
According to Reuters, a nearby geothermal power station can provide the plant with the renewable energy needed for carbon capture and storage technology.
The plant was established in cooperation with the Swiss air technology company "Climate Factory" and the Icelandic Carbon Storage Technology Company.
According to the design, the factory can capture 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of about 800 petrol cars.
International Energy Agency data show that global carbon dioxide emissions reached 31.5 billion tons last year. So far, 15 factories around the world have directly captured carbon from the air, distributed in Europe, the United States and Canada, and the total amount of carbon dioxide captured annually exceeds 9,000 tons.
The direct capture of carbon from the air is an emerging technology. In the eyes of some scientists, it is a great weapon to curb the trend of global warming, but the current cost is quite high. As more and more companies and consumers want to reduce their carbon footprint, developers hope to reduce the cost of carbon capture by expanding their scale. Critics believe that this technology may take decades from large-scale applications.
"Washington Post" quoted one of the founders of "Climate Factory" and engineer Christoph Gerbald as saying that most of the company's devices using this technology are manufactured by hand rather than automated production. In addition, capturing carbon dioxide requires a lot of energy, resulting in high costs. At present, the cost of capturing 1 ton of carbon dioxide directly from the air is about US$600 to US$800. In the absence of any government subsidies, if you want to achieve profitability, the cost per ton should be controlled at US$100 to 150.
Gerbald said the company hopes to cut costs to approximately US$200 to US$300 per ton by the end of 2030. In his view, the Oka factory has drawn a "blueprint for further expansion and real industrialization."
"Climate Factory" CEO Jan Witzbacher said that the Oka factory is the company's first commercialization of carbon capture technology from the air, and the relevant market demand is strong, which will help accelerate the development of scale. The factory’s current customers include Swiss Re, Volkswagen’s Audi, and Canadian e-commerce company Supife. Among them, Swiss Re and the factory last week signed a $10 million "decarbonization" service agreement.
