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posted by mrpg on Wednesday June 13 2018, @04:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the hot-on-the-heels-of-fresh-water-from-air dept.

Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought

Siphoning carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere could be more than an expensive last-ditch strategy for averting climate catastrophe. A detailed economic analysis published on 7 June suggests that the geoengineering technology is inching closer to commercial viability.

The study, in Joule, was written by researchers at Carbon Engineering in Calgary, Canada, which has been operating a pilot CO2-extraction plant in British Columbia since 2015. That plant — based on a concept called direct air capture — provided the basis for the economic analysis, which includes cost estimates from commercial vendors of all of the major components. Depending on a variety of design options and economic assumptions, the cost of pulling a tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere ranges between US$94 and $232. The last comprehensive analysis of the technology, conducted by the American Physical Society in 2011, estimated that it would cost $600 per tonne.

Carbon Engineering says that it published the paper to advance discussions about the cost and potential of the technology. "We're really trying to commercialize direct air capture in a serious way, and to do that, you have to have everybody in the supply chain on board," says David Keith, acting chief scientist at Carbon Engineering and a climate physicist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A Process for Capturing CO2 from the Atmosphere (DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2018.05.006) (DX)

Direct Air Capture of CO2 with Chemicals (2011)


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday June 13 2018, @11:17AM (4 children)

    by anubi (2828) on Wednesday June 13 2018, @11:17AM (#692298) Journal

    The economics of broken windows.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 13 2018, @03:40PM (3 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday June 13 2018, @03:40PM (#692369) Homepage Journal

    I find it very interesting that the regressive left are so concerned about poor people but have no problem whatsoever with forcing people into poverty in the first place.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 13 2018, @04:21PM (2 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday June 13 2018, @04:21PM (#692390)

      I find it very interesting that die-hard free market supporters insist on letting their theory go completely awry by not factoring in all the costs of producing a good to be included in the price. They do this largely by pretending that the costs not included in the price don't exist.

      Also, forcing people to pay the costs of producing whatever they're selling shouldn't reduce anybody to poverty, unless you're telling me that the entire energy industry functions solely as a scam.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.