Irish Climate Tech Company Makes Major Discovery
Waterford, Ireland based NEG8 Carbon has invented a new class of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that helps remove the biggest barrier to the large-scale deployment of DAC – the costs.
NEG8 Carbon’s unique approach to capturing carbon from the atmosphere is called Electrostatic Direct Air Capture which is a new category of highly efficient DAC technology.
The company’s DAC technology works by drawing in air and passing it over a specifically designed sorbent system that attracts and captures carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules. The captured CO2 can then be permanently and safely stored underground or converted into climate-neutral carbon products, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Traditionally, DAC has been expensive, mainly due to its high energy demands. However, Electrostatic DAC is changing this, as Dr John Breen, Chief Technology Officer at NEG8 Carbon explains:
“We use our patent pending electrostatic technology to create stable, thin, active layers of sorbent on specially formulated surfaces. As a result, we achieve very fast, low temperature sorbent regeneration, enabling low energy usage, and long sorbent lifespans. Furthermore, we do not use water, in fact we generate it, making it an environmentally friendly process. Finally, we can operate in a large range of atmospheric conditions, with the capability of capturing CO2 even in the depths of a Canadian winter.”
The outcome of this discovery is that through the use of Electrostatic DAC, Direct Air Capture becomes affordable. This allows for worldwide deployment to address the alarming build-up of carbon dioxide in the air. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we will not be able to limit global warming to the critical 1.5°C above pre-industrial surface temperatures without the use of DAC.
Ray Naughton, Co-founder and MD of NEG8 Carbon, adds:
“Our focus is on the capture of accumulated CO2 from the air in order to reduce this to safe levels. Current concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are causing climate instability but future projected concentrations are of world survival concern. We need to win the battle against climate change by drastically reducing carbon emissions and removing the excess accumulated CO2. Without the intervention of carbon capture technology like Electrostatic DAC it will take 300 to 1000 years to bring the CO2 concentration levels in the atmosphere back down from the current 422 parts per million to the 350 parts per million considered safe. To do this, we need to capture CO2 at scale worldwide and this Electrostatic DAC technology will help achieve this ambition.”
For more:
What is Direct Air Capture?
The Advantages of Direct Air Capture
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