Technology called ‘Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage’ (DACCS) uses chemical reactions to remove CO2 from the air and store it underground.
Direct air capture machines push air over chemicals that filter out the CO2 through a chemical reaction.
The captured CO2 can then be injected deep underground for long-term, geological storage. Projects have shown that storing CO2 underground can be done successfully and safely.
The potential for removing CO2 by DACCS is large because it requires very little land compared to some of the other methods explored in this story.
However, a significant challenge for DACCS is the large amount of energy it uses, because CO2 is dilute in the air.
CO2 is currently only being removed at a small scale via DACCS, but progress is being made through innovation and investment. A recent report found that of all patents for Carbon Dioxide Removal methods, DAC holds the biggest share.
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