Amid all the complex science surrounding climate change, one possible solution sounds absurdly simple.
As basic as it sounds, scientists have now built a gigantic vacuum to literally suck the CO2 out of the air.
The massive factory in Iceland, called the Mammoth, uses huge steel fans to suck in CO2, dissolve the gas in water and pump it deep underground.
At maximum capacity, Climeworks, the company behind the factory, says the vacuum will be able to remove 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air every year.
Although this is only a small portion of the world’s emissions, Climeworks believes pumps like The Mammoth are key to combating climate change.
Scientists in Iceland have developed a huge vacuum that sucks up to 36,000 tons of CO2 from the air every year
The Mammoth, as the plant is called, uses 72 modular collection chambers to filter CO2 from the air using power from a nearby geothermal power plant
Construction of the Mammoth began in June 2022, but the factory has only just turned on.
The modular design allows for 72 ‘collection containers’ that capture carbon from the air, although only 12 are currently installed.
These use energy from a nearby geothermal power plant to power large steel fans that suck ambient air from the atmosphere into special filters that capture CO2.
When the filters are full, they are sealed and the temperature inside the container rises to 100°C (212°F).
This releases the carbon from the filter so that it can be washed away by high-pressure steam jets.
As with any carbonated drink, the gas dissolves in the water to form an effervescent solution that is pumped deep into the volcanic rocks beneath the plant.
As the water seeps back to the surface, the CO2 reacts with the basalt and turns it into stone over the course of a few years.
Direct air capture works by pulling ambient air through a series of filters (left) to capture CO2. These chambers are then heated and steam is injected to dissolve the CO2 in water (right)
The resulting mixture of CO2 and water is injected into the volcanic basalt beneath the plant, where it slowly turns into rock
Last year, humans produced about 37 billion tons of CO2 by burning fossil fuels for energy.
Critics say the easiest way to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is to reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned in the first place.
However, others point out that transitioning to renewable energy sources will take time and that some industries, such as steelmaking, may be difficult to transition at all.
For that reason, proponents of carbon capture and storage argue that we need plants like The Mammoth to give humanity a buffer while emissions drop.
According to the UN climate body, the world will need to remove between six and sixteen billion tonnes of CO2 every year to prevent temperatures from rising by 1.5°C.
Climeworks says its factory (pictured) will be crucial in the fight against climate change, providing some of the estimated 60 million tonnes of CO2 capture needed by 2030.
Only 12 of the 72 collection containers (pictured) are currently active, but the company plans to add more over the course of the year
Similarly, the International Energy Agency estimates that the world will need to store at least 60 million tons per year by 2030.
The Mammoth is nine times larger than a previous carbon capture facility built by Climeworks in 2021 and is currently one of the largest in the world.
At a maximum capacity of 36,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, it could reduce global emissions by the equivalent of 7,800 petrol cars.
However, that impressive figure is only equivalent to 30 seconds of the world’s annual CO2 emissions.
The technology behind ‘direct air capture’ has made rapid progress, but is still hampered by a lack of scale and the cost of carbon capture.
Compared to reforestation, which can cost as little as £10 ($12.56) per tonne of CO2 captured, direct air capture is extremely expensive.
The company is keeping quiet about the exact cost, but executives said in a call with reporters that the cost is almost £796 ($1,000) per tonne.
However, the company wants to reduce those costs to £239 ($300) per tonne by 1030 and just £80 ($100) per tonne by 2050.
To keep its own CO2 emissions low, The Mammoth’s enormous fans are powered by Iceland’s geothermal energy
The factory is nine times larger than a previous factory built by Climeworks in 2021, which was the largest in the world at the time of construction
Despite the enormous challenges ahead for carbon capture technology, Climeworks executives remain positive.
Jan Wurzbacher, CEO of Climeworks, says: ‘We started a long time ago [in 2009] in the laboratory we had a small reactor the size of a mobile phone, which captured a few milligrams of carbon dioxide.
“It’s a pretty big journey that we’ve already been on and I think so [Mammoth] is a very strong basis to take the next steps,” said Mr. Wurzbacher The times.
Climeworks is currently working on a £40 million US government-funded facility in Louisiana, which could capture one million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
Climeworks sells carbon capture credits for around £796 ($1,000) per tonne and claims to have already sold 100,000 tonnes of carbon capture credits to companies
They’re also not the only company that sees carbon capture as a profitable opportunity, as many companies are now looking to purchase carbon capture credits to offset their emissions.
Climeworks says it has already sold credits to offset the 100,000 tonnes of CO2 it wants to remove – although this would take around three years at maximum capacity.
For example, the Stratos plant currently under construction in Texas is designed to remove 500,000 tons of carbon per year.
Mr Wurzbacher added: “Let’s look at the wind industry, let’s even look at the oil and gas industry.
‘Is there a track record that humanity has come up with a technical solution for something and then scaled it up to a globally relevant scale within thirty years?
‘The answer is yes, there are several track records. So we have shown as human beings that we can do it.’