Climeworks' Orca project upscales to explore direct air capture for CO2 reduction

Climeworks' Orca project to create direct air capture (DAC) in Iceland has reached the next level where the DAC technology is combined with Carbfix's underground storage of carbon dioxide, capturing 4000t of CO₂ per year when completed. The cement industry may need to explore such technology to improve its capabilities of reducing CO₂ emissions.

By scaling up its direct air capture and storage technology, Climeworks is making a permanent CO₂ removal solution more easily attainable and could start to offset carbon emissions from industries such as the cement sector. 

"Breaking ground on the construction of Orca marks an exciting milestone for Climeworks and an important step in the fight against climate change. Climeworks' new Orca plant demonstrates that scalable, pure carbon dioxide removal via direct air capture is possible. And we are excited to be a vital part in kickstarting the carbon dioxide removal industry," said Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-founder of Climeworks. 

A European Commission fact sheet on DAC reports that DAC can support decarbonisation regardless of the emissions source. To achieve CO₂ emissions reduction, low-cost and low-carbon energy will be required to satisfy the high power demand associated with DAC operation. Still, specific trade-offs cannot be avoided. Using wind energy to power the DAC process to remove the emissions associated with a typical cement plant would require installing turbines on a land area almost equivalent to the city of Brussels.