{"id":336346,"date":"2024-07-13T07:27:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T05:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336346"},"modified":"2024-07-13T07:27:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T05:27:46","slug":"worlds-largest-vacuum-to-suck-carbon-out-of-the-sky-and-money-out-of-wallets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336346","title":{"rendered":"Worlds largest vacuum to suck carbon out of the sky (and money out of wallets)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From JoNova <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/climeworks.com\/news\/climeworks-mammoth-construction-update-dec22<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a world of turmoil, trust the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> to ask the key question of the day:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Should Australia house a giant vacuum cleaner<\/a> to suck carbon from the sky?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In May this year, on the flat plains of an Icelandic geothermal reserve, a gigantic vacuum cleaner designed to suck planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the sky was switched on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The machine, called Mammoth, would not be entirely out of place on a Mad Max set\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big machine in Iceland and will soon start pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year and turning it into calcium carbonate rock underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world where humans make 37 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually the project will be able to remove 36,000 tons of CO2 each year, which is approximately one millionth of human annual emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost estimates are said to be \u201ccloser to $1,000 a ton\u201d to remove the CO2. Effectively, we\u2019re spending 36 million dollars US to convert one millionth of human annual emissions of a fertilizing gas into limestone rock we don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flagrant Big Government wastage doesn\u2019t get much more pointless than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

File this away for the history books of the future like the quest for perpetual motion machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/climeworks.com\/news\/climeworks-mammoth-construction-update-dec22<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The process is called Direct Air Capture (DAC) and supposedly the Mammoth plant achieves something equivalent to taking \u201c8,000 cars off the road\u201d each year, as if that was a useful thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem for the Swiss Company (Climaworks) is that the most efficient machines for capturing carbon are plants, and they\u2019re cheap and out of patent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climeworks built this project in Iceland, of course, so they can use \u201cclean\u201d geothermal energy. But that raises the question of how much electricity it takes to turn CO2 into limestone. If we ran it off coal fired power would it ever be carbon neutral?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chemical Engineer explains the process<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essentially a SodaStream on steroids,\u201d says Douglas Chan, COO of Climeworks. Absorption water is injected at the top of the tower and trickles down through packing that fills the column. The water dissolves the CO2 coming up through the bottom of the tower producing a pressurised mix that is ready for injection underground through two onsite wells operated by project partner Carbfix. Deep under the earth it reacts with the rock, becoming mineralised, locking up the emissions for long-term storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Wurzbacher, Climeworks CEO, said: \u201cWithin two years, the CO2 has become solid carbonate rock, 800m underground where it will stay for the next couple of millions of years for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the cost of capturing the carbon, Wurzbacher says: \u201cToday we are closer to the US$1,000 per tonne mark than we are to the US$100 per tonne mark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we pretend the costs will fall like they did with slave-made solar panels subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party this process will become wildly cheap I promise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we apply learning rates, which are known from other industries such as solar PV and the wind industry, and if we compare them to our predicted technological learning, we\u2019ll end up at a cost level at the order of US$100 per tonne, going towards 2050.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if this fantasy comes true, it\u2019s still $100 a ton we don\u2019t have to spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a cult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The process is called Direct Air Capture (DAC) and supposedly the Mammoth plant achieves something equivalent to taking \u201c8,000 cars off the road\u201d each year, as if that was a useful thing.<\/p>\n

The problem for the Swiss Company (Climaworks) is that the most efficient machines for capturing carbon are plants, and they\u2019re cheap and out of patent.<\/p>\n

Climeworks built this project in Iceland, of course, so they can use \u201cclean\u201d geothermal energy. But that raises the question of how much electricity it takes to turn CO2 into limestone. If we ran it off coal fired power would it ever be carbon neutral?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":336351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818216,691827130,691821973],"class_list":{"0":"post-336346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co2","10":"tag-direct-air-capture-dac","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/06374b864d9664903009c93db_612ffc7cdabf07109a9a498f_climeworksmachines.jpeg?fit=1280%2C854&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1puW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":378708,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378708","url_meta":{"origin":336346,"position":0},"title":"Carbon Capture Scam Does Not Even Offset Its Own\u00a0Emissions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a remarkable story coming out of Iceland, and a warning for Net Zero zealots wanting us to go down the same route","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-238.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-238.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-238.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-238.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":379633,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379633","url_meta":{"origin":336346,"position":1},"title":"DAC Dying? (\u201ccorporate theater wrapped in a green ribbon\u201d)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cRemoving CO\u2082 from ambient air is a thermodynamic slog,\u201d continues Barnard. \u201cThe concentration is a measly 0.04% \u2014 less than one molecule in 2,500.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\u00a0projects\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\u00a0projects","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-projects"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-23.-Mai-2025-19_54_11.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":349928,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349928","url_meta":{"origin":336346,"position":2},"title":"A Bit Of Perspective Goes A Long Way","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The world\u2019s largest CO2-capture plant just went into operation in Iceland, built by a company called \u201cClimeworks\u201d. 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Having long proclaimed itself a \u201cclimate leader\u201d on the world stage, the United Kingdom is now preparing to stake tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers\u2019 money on technologies that have failed everywhere else. 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In a recent Climate Forward newsletter piece titled \u201cCarbon Capture Comes Back Down to Earth\u201d, Times writer David Gelles practically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Carbon capture\"","block_context":{"text":"Carbon capture","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1200%2C772&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1200%2C772&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1200%2C772&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1200%2C772&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02024-02-13-22_59_03-Direct-air-capture-carbon-dioxide-removal-Orca-Iceland.jpg-1600%C3%971067.jpeg?fit=1200%2C772&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":332212,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=332212","url_meta":{"origin":336346,"position":5},"title":"Boondoggle: Carbon capture projects are worse than a public nuisance","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/06\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The world of climate policy abounds with bad ideas \u2013 from force-feeding an increasingly reluctant driving public a steady diet of EVs, to regulating popular household appliances out of existence.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0post-apocalyptic-ruined-city-destroyed-buildings-burnt-out-vehicles-and-ruined-roads-ai-generative-free-photo.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0post-apocalyptic-ruined-city-destroyed-buildings-burnt-out-vehicles-and-ruined-roads-ai-generative-free-photo.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0post-apocalyptic-ruined-city-destroyed-buildings-burnt-out-vehicles-and-ruined-roads-ai-generative-free-photo.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0post-apocalyptic-ruined-city-destroyed-buildings-burnt-out-vehicles-and-ruined-roads-ai-generative-free-photo.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0post-apocalyptic-ruined-city-destroyed-buildings-burnt-out-vehicles-and-ruined-roads-ai-generative-free-photo.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336346"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336353,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336346\/revisions\/336353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/336351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}