Several scientists has the view that even though carbon emissions are mitigated through constant efforts in the coming years, there is still a dire need to do something about the greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere. This is the only way in which humanity stands a chance at curbing global warming. In this respect, research teams have continuously been pondering upon the possibility of building facilities with the ability to extract carbon from the air and then storing it safely somewhere.
Now, a company is trying to achieve this by building a DAC (Direct Air Capture) facility in Scotland. The success of the project would bring an enormously positive impact on the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Market as it could extract around One Million tons of carbon present in the air each year. A state that is akin to 40 Million trees. The carbon extracted would be stored under the sea storage sites according to plans.
The project is the outcome of an association between StoreggaGeotechnologies(a UK energy transition company) and Carbon Engineering (A Canadian Company indulged in projects of carbon removal from the air). In this new and innovative effort, the companies are the initial stages of building a facility that would be the largest in the world now.
For now, the project has managed to pass the feasibility stage, and its next phase would be to select the most appropriate site in Scotland. The country was chosen for the project mainly because of its large, easily available labor force that is knowledgeable and trained in several skills required for the accomplishment of the project. The site chosen is closer to pipelines that were in use before for bringing in oil from the North Sea. Through these pipes, the captured and treated carbon would be sent in dry underground wells.
The plans as announced till now consist of the installation of a fan to pull the air in. Then, the air captured would be routed into a vat consisting of a liquid that can bind the Co2 (Carbon Dioxide). After the filtering stage, carbon will go refinement resulting in the creation of calcium carbonate pellets. The pellets would be heated, pushing them to decompose into a Co2in addition to the calcium oxide. Further, the Co2stream will be cleaned to remove impurities, after which it will be ready for being sequestered to the storage site. The companies have stated that in the future, they would want to sell the Co2. Nonetheless, the project would be huge for the world’s environment, and its success would mean that the human race would have a chance at curbing global warming.