Lauren Sommer of NPR writes about direct air capture.
- Direct air capture is one technology that climate scientists say is essential to lowering emissions.
- Direct air capture uses giant fans and scrubbers to capture CO2 that has already been emitted into the atmosphere.
- The biggest drawbacks to this technology at the moment are its cost and efficiency.
- To reduce emissions, we will need to embrace an “all of the above” strategy that includes direct air capture.
“Simply put, the idea is to absorb carbon dioxide emissions that have already accumulated in the atmosphere. Then, those emissions would be locked away in some kind of permanent storage, generally in underground geologic formations, so they don’t escape to create more warming down the road. But despite carbon dioxide’s power to heat the planet, it’s very diffuse, making up less than 1% of the atmosphere. That makes it tricky to capture from the air in large quantities.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
