Dutch breakthrough in affordable and rapid capture of CO2 from the air
Founder Hans de Neve with the Carbyon prototype
The Dutch Carbyon says it has achieved a breakthrough in the affordable removal of CO2 from the air. Direct Air Capture (DAC) is seen as a necessary but costly technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere and thus reduce the greenhouse effect.
One of the major challenges of DAC technologies is that the process of capturing CO2 from the air is extremely slow. The most commonly used materials need hours to bind CO2. Carbyon[1] developed a new type of material that can shorten this process to a few minutes. One kilo of Carbyon material can capture 5 tons of CO2 over a year.
And that gain of time means that the costs of this CO2 capture technology are also drastically reduced. Carbyon expects that the purchase price of its machine (CAPEX) will cost the equivalent of 50 dollars (45 euros) per captured ton of CO2. The operational energy costs must then be added to this CAPEX to arrive at a total cost per ton of CO2 captured.
The International Energy Agency (IEA)[2] published its expectations for the potential of DAC[3] in 2022. With the state of the art of techniques a year ago, the IEA estimated that a large DAC factory should be able to achieve a cost price of 114 to 305 euros per ton of captured CO2.
With a CAPEX of 50 dollars per tonne of CO2, Carbyon is in any case well on its way to keeping the total costs of DAC within limits. More than a year ago, Change Inc. spoke already with Hans de Neve, founder of Carbyon. He stated at that time about Carbyon's objectives: “Currently it costs 500 to 700 euros to capture one ton of CO2. That would have to be 50 to 100 per tonne to be able to apply it on a large scale.”
The cost of capturing CO2 is largely related to the amount of energy the process requires. Initially, Carbyon's technology suffered from damage due to water absorption, which resulted in a higher energy demand for the process. But the recent breakthrough has resulted in much less water absorption, limiting energy demand to 2,500 kilowatt hours per tonne of CO2. In the earlier interview, De Neve indicated that the price 'must be closer to 1,000 kilowatt hours per tonne to make the business case interesting.'
DAC technology can in principle be applied anywhere in the world. But the business case becomes more interesting in places where renewable energy can be generated easily and cheaply, for example with many solar and wind farms, such as Australia, Tasmania and southern Chile.
“Our tireless confrontation with Mother Nature's laws of nature has finally given us insight into how we can solve this puzzle,” De Neve now says in a press release. “This is a major team effort; 2,500 kilowatt hours per ton is a challenging milestone for any DAC technology. By demonstrating this with a fully electric, low-CAPEX technology, Carbyon is in pole position to reach the target of 100 dollars (90 euros, ed.) per tonne that the market is looking for. Nothing can stop us now.”
Teun Schröder, Nederlandse doorbraak in betaalbare en snelle afvang van CO2 uit de lucht, in: Change Inc, 28-11-2023; https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/nederlandse-doorbraak-in-betaalbare-en-snelle-afvang-van-co2-uit-de-lucht-40609
[1] Carbyon is a start-up company based in Eindhoven (NL) with the purpose of turning direct air capture into an affordable and scalable technology that can be used to turn the corner on climate change. We are scientists and engineers with a shared dream: to tackle climate change. We deploy breakthrough technology that enables worldwide capture of CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbyon is part of a rich ecosystem of universities, research institutes, corporates and partnerships. This gives Carbyon access to virtually any piece of knowledge and/or infrastructure that is needed to develop our technology and increase our impact. https://carbyon.com/about/
[2] The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 association countries of the IEA represent 75% of global energy demand
[3] DAC = Direct Air Capture ; https://www.iea.org/reports/direct-air-capture-2022/executive-summary?_ga=2.94111581.1107884159.1701769456-1472931476.1658240840
