‘World’s first’ CO2 capturing firm prepares for mass production

Climeworks, who manufacture CO² capturing plants, have raised $30.8m in equity funding which will be used to prepare their technology for mass production.

Their plants capture CO² with a filter, and once the filter is saturated with CO² it is heated to around 100 °C (212 °F).

The CO² is then released from the filter and collected as concentrated CO² gas to supply to customers or for negative emissions technologies.

CO² free air is then released back into the atmosphere and the continuous cycle is then ready to start again, and Climeworks says their plants can last for several thousand cycles.

They add that sectors such as shipping and aviation do not yet have viable alternatives to fossil fuels and traditional mitigation measures such as renewable energies can, even in the optimum scenario, only reduce CO² by around 80%, meaning the rest must come from removing carbon from the air.

Climeworks co-founder and co-CEO Jan Wurzbacher said: ‘Our direct air capture plants serve markets ranging from food, beverage and agriculture, through renewable fuels and materials to carbon dioxide removal.

‘In the latter, companies and individuals can reverse their unavoidable emissions via Climeworks.

‘All three markets are set to grow, and with this latest investment Climeworks is well-positioned with a strong base for further growth.’

In 2017 Climeworks opened the world’s first commercially operational CO² capture plant in Switzerland.

In November of 2017, they launched the world’s first DAC plant in combination with underground sequestration of CO² in Iceland.

Climeworks co-founder and co-CEO Christoph Gebal added: ‘Besides assembling an exceptional team, we are happy and thankful that we were able to establish an excellent shareholder structure over the last years, supporting us to pioneer the creation of a new, timely and relevant industry.’

The company says they are on a mission to capture 1% of global CO² emissions by 2025.