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We can vacuum carbon from the sky. Will it make a difference?

By Lara Williams

20 Feb 2023 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

Direct air capture (DAC) companies are on a mission to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Bloomberg argues that there are still many factors to be considered before DAC goes mainstream.

Climeworks AG is on a mission to go big.

The Swiss direct air capture (DAC) company reached a milestone earlier this year, providing a certified carbon removal service to corporate clients — Microsoft, Spotify and Stripe — for the first time. The removal took place at its Orca plant, currently the largest DAC facility in the world, located roughly half an hour outside of Reykjavik. The carbon dioxide was then injected several hundred meters underground into nearby basaltic rock formations by partner Carbfix, where it will be permanently turned to stone. Next door, its big brother Mammoth is under construction. Mammoth will be nine times the size of Orca, eventually capturing 36,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

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