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Key takeaways:
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Climeworks unveils its latest Generation 3 direct air capture technology to scale up to megaton capacity. This new technology will first be deployed in the US and then replicated globally at secure project sites.
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Generation 3 technology and design has been developed and proven over the past five years and will be implemented at full scale for the first time in June 2024 at its largest direct air capture test facility in Switzerland.
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The first large-scale testing has confirmed the predicted improvement in efficiency and performance due to the new CO2 filter systems and process configurations.
Generation 3 direct air capture technology is based on new structured sorbent materials placed in modular pods.
Climeworks is future-proofing its technology for global scale-up in gigaton carbon removal using the latest research and development findings in filter materials and plant design. At its annual Carbon Removal Summit in Zurich, Climeworks showcases the success of its 3rd Generation Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology: doubling the CO₂ capture capacity per module, halving energy consumption, increasing the lifespan of material and cut costs by 50 percent.
Double the power – half the power
Generation 3 technology uses new structured sorbent materials that replace the packed filter beds used in previous generations of technology. The new structures increase surface contact with CO₂, reducing the time to capture and release CO₂ by a factor of at least two, thereby capturing more than twice as much CO₂ as previous filters. The new filter materials consume half the energy and are designed to last three times longer than previous materials. The Generation 3 technology represents a major milestone in Climeworks’ cost reduction strategy, which aims to achieve costs of USD 250-350 per tonne captured and total costs of USD 400-600 per net net removal by 2030 This represents an overall cost reduction of up to 50 percent compared to today.
Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO
Climeworks has always been committed to technology leadership. We pioneered the development of direct air capture technology and launched our first commercial facility in 2017. We operate the world’s largest commercial direct air capture plant, Orca, in Iceland and have inaugurated a larger , Mammoth, ten times bigger. In parallel, over the past five years, we have developed our Generation 3 technology. This development is based on real field data, enabling the scaling of megaton removal capacities
Start through the larger test facilities
The journey began at Climeworks’ small and medium test facilities in Zurich, where the new technology was refined before being tested at Climeworks’ large-scale test facility in Basel, Switzerland.
Climeworks has a strong R&D team of 180 people, including 50 specialists dedicated to the development of Generation 3 technology. These specialists accumulated 15,000 hours of testing new sorbent materials and performed 5,000 CO₂ capture and release cycles per optimize system stability and efficiency. Climeworks transformed its collector concept from traditional stacked containers to sleek modular cubes. These domes have been redesigned to increase capture efficiency, reduce costs and increase durability. They each measure 26 by 26 meters and are 22.5 meters long (85 by 85 feet and 73 feet high).
Confronting innovation: megaton centers in the US and beyond
The first plant to use this new generation of technology, including the new cube design, will be built in Louisiana as part of the megaton-scale Project Cypress DAC Hub funded by the US Department of Energy. Construction will begin in 2026 and would mark another tenfold step towards megaton capacity. Additionally, Climeworks is part of two further megaton hub proposals in the US and is actively developing projects in Norway, Kenya and Canada, as well as exploring further locations on its journey to gigaton capacity.
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Learn more about Climeworks’ journey to the gigaton scale:
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