CARBON ENGINEERING

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Carbon engineering was set up in 2009 by David Keith. It captures

the carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere reducing the
effects of greenhouse gases which cause global warming and
pollution. The company believes in solving the issue of climate
change through the power of humanity. It aims to pass on the
same planet we’ve inherited and enjoyed to our future generation.
It is currently working with global partners to deploy direct air
capture facilities at multiple locations around the world

TECHNOLOGY

So what this technology is? The direct air capture(DAC) technology

pulls in the atmospheric air and then removes the carbon dioxide
from it while returning the rest of the air back to the environment.
Photosynthesis does the same task, so what differentiates it from
the process of photosynthesis? The difference lies in the time
taken by respective processes to remove the carbon dioxide from
the air. The DAC technology does this much faster than the natural
process of photosynthesis. The company is working to capture 1
million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to the work of about 40
million trees.
IMPACT OF CARBON ON ENVIRONMENT

Due to the activities of humans, the amount of carbon has raised

by 50% in less than 200 years. It causes global warming which has
led to several issues such as temperature rises, water shortages,
increased fire threats, drought, weed and pest invasions, and
many more. By increasing temperature carbon dioxide emissions
increase formation of smog having adverse impact on respiratory
health. These problems necessitates immediate action to be taken.

PROCESS OF DAC TECHNOLOGY

It is discussed below how does the process work in removing the

carbon from atmospheric air-

1.Air contractor- a giant fan pulls the air into it. A chemical solution
comprising of potassium hydroxide removes the co2 from the air
and traps it in form of a liquid solution as carbonate salt.

2.Pellet reactor- it is a reactor filled with fine grained sand. the

carbonate salt is separated from the liquid form into small pellets.

3.Calciner- a calciner is a steel cylinder that rotates inside a heated

furnace and performs indirect high-temperature processing within
a controlled temperature. In this process the co2 is released in a
pure gas form.
4.Slaker- in the calciner, some processed pellets are left behind
which are recycled back into the system.

EFFORTS

Airbus has signed an agreement to purchase 400000 tonnes of

carbon removal credits from the company. It was further joined by
7 more major airline companies. This has helped in accelerating
the efforts to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and
create a clean environment for the future generations. A plant in
USA of dac is expected to capture 500000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
from the air. It will become the largest dac in the world once it
becomes fully operational.

CONCLUSION

The technology developed by the company has been really useful

for removal of carbon from the air thereby reducing the severe
damage excess carbon can cause through global warming,
droughts, pollution ,etc. 7 major airline companies have signed
agreement with the company for the purpose of removal of
carbon as of 2022. This has a reported 90% efficiency which would
help in tackling global warming and make the environment more
sustainable.