Climeworks said the new plant will be able to permanently remove 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air per year.
The agreements set down an important milestone in the fight against climate change: they mark the first time the technologies have been combined for a project of this scale to remove carbon dioxide from the air.
Under the agreement with ON Power, Climeworks will build facilities within ON Power’s Geothermal Park to capture CO₂ from the air, which will be done using Climeworks’ direct air capture technology (DAC).
The geothermal power and heat provided by ON Power secures a constant supply of renewable energy to power the DAC technology.
Source: Climeworks
Module of the next generation of Climeworks technology
Climeworks’ agreement with Carbfix ensures the safe storage of the CO₂ through natural underground mineralisation.
The underground basaltic rock formations in Iceland provide the ideal conditions for this process, providing a permanent solution for CO₂ storage.
The collaborative efforts of these agreements are particularly important as the scale-up of carbon removal is essential to reach the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and the continued development of these technologies could prove to be a game-changer in the fight against climate change.
Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks, said, “This collaboration with ON and Carbfix marks a big step forward in reducing the CO₂ in our air.”
“The site in Iceland provides ideal conditions: the supply of renewable energy and a safe and natural storage space for our air-captured carbon dioxide.”
“All partners have developed pioneering solutions and are experts in their field. We are proud, together with our partners, to bring the permanent and safe removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the next level.”