Technology atlas / Capture & conditioning
Direct air capture
Liquid or solid sorbents take CO₂ directly from ambient air; regeneration then delivers concentrated CO₂ for storage or use.
Technical reference · Updated 2026-10-10 · No current-news claim
Where the carbon goes
Atmospheric origin is necessary but not sufficient for removal: the CO₂ must then be stored durably. Used in fuels, it is re-released.
Conceptual process flow · left to right
- 01Air contactor
- 02Sorbent loading
- 03Regeneration
- 04CO₂ purification
- 05Compression
From chemistry to process
- Feedstocks
- Ambient air (~420 ppm CO₂), Sorbent or solvent, Heat, Electricity
- Products
- Concentrated CO₂
- Catalysts
- No catalyst; sorbent chemistry (hydroxide solutions or amine-functionalised solids) controls uptake and regeneration
- Conditions
- Very large air-contacting area. Regeneration ranges from moderate-temperature vacuum/steam swing for solid sorbents to high-temperature calcination for liquid-solvent loops.
Performance & demonstrated scale
Pilot and early commercial plants exist; each must be judged on measured net capture over sustained operation.
0.438 GJ/t CO₂ theoretical
Economics
Capital-intensive and energy-intensive per tonne. Published cost figures differ in boundary, scale and year; compare only like-for-like delivered-CO₂ costs.
Climate considerations
Net removal requires subtracting emissions from energy, materials and construction, and durable storage of the delivered CO₂.
CCU Reality Check · pathway assessment
What remains to be demonstrated?
This initial assessment separates process knowledge from the evidence needed for a commercial conclusion. Missing information is left unresolved.
| Dimension | Assessment and evidence gap |
|---|---|
| CO₂ feedstock availability | No site-specific supplier, volume, purity guarantee or delivery contract has been verified. |
| Capture and delivered cost | Not quantified. Capture, conditioning, compression and transport need separate boundaries. |
| Energy and hydrogen demand | Theoretical stoichiometric or thermodynamic values are shown above. Actual process energy and feed losses remain scenario assumptions. |
| Catalyst and reactor performance | No catalyst; sorbent chemistry (hydroxide solutions or amine-functionalised solids) controls uptake and regeneration. No plant lifetime or sustained performance is verified here. |
| Product separation | The process flow identifies separation stages where relevant; a quantified separation duty and cost remain unavailable. |
| CAPEX and OPEX | No plant-specific capital estimate or complete operating-cost dataset is attached. |
| Minimum selling price | Not calculated. Capital recovery, utilization, financing and a complete operating boundary are required. |
| Fossil benchmark competitiveness | No verified regional benchmark comparison. Calculator benchmark values, where shown, are illustrative. |
| Climate performance | Net removal requires subtracting emissions from energy, materials and construction, and durable storage of the delivered CO₂. |
| Scale-up bottlenecks | Energy demand from a very dilute source; Sorbent lifetime and degradation; Air-contactor capital cost and land use; Low-carbon energy supply. |
| Customer and offtake readiness | No qualified-customer or executed-offtake evidence is attached to this pathway profile. |
| Policy dependence | Not assessed for a specific project or jurisdiction. Do not assume subsidies or certification eligibility. |