10 votes

Climeworks is building a second commercial-sized plant in Iceland that will capture and store 36,000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide

12 comments

  1. [12]
    arghdos
    Link
    Interesting, I’d love to read more about their technology. Their website doesn’t have much in the way of detail (at least that I found). Anyone have some papers?

    Interesting, I’d love to read more about their technology. Their website doesn’t have much in the way of detail (at least that I found). Anyone have some papers?

    4 votes
    1. [11]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Not a paper, but I remember reading about them in Bloomberg back when Bill Gates invested in them: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/bill-gates-investment-in-carbon-removal-tech...

      Not a paper, but I remember reading about them in Bloomberg back when Bill Gates invested in them:
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/bill-gates-investment-in-carbon-removal-tech

      And there are a few other topics on Climeworks too, which probably have more details:
      https://tildes.net/~enviro?tag=climeworks

      p.s. Google Scholar brings up some results, if papers are what you're really after:
      https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22climeworks%22&btnG=

      3 votes
      1. [9]
        arghdos
        Link Parent
        Heh, so the papers are like a slightly more technical version of their website. I was trying to find something that gave an idea of the weight of CO2 removed vs area of the module, the power...

        Heh, so the papers are like a slightly more technical version of their website. I was trying to find something that gave an idea of the weight of CO2 removed vs area of the module, the power required, the lifetime of the sorbant, etc. but it looks like they don’t really discuss it publicly. 🤷‍♂️

        4 votes
        1. [8]
          rogue_cricket
          Link Parent
          With all these carbon capture processes all I ever wonder as a layperson is how they compare to hiring one guy to plant trees as a full time job.

          With all these carbon capture processes all I ever wonder as a layperson is how they compare to hiring one guy to plant trees as a full time job.

          4 votes
          1. mycketforvirrad
            Link Parent
            Funny you should say that... Just spotted this little offbeat jem! A man in Zagreb has planted 1000 trees DW – 30th June 2022

            hiring one guy to plant trees as a full time job.

            Funny you should say that... Just spotted this little offbeat jem!

            A man in Zagreb has planted 1000 trees

            Vladimir Dimić has an unusual and surprisingly illegal hobby: he's been planting trees for 30 years. He dedicates them to his grandchildren and the residents of Zagreb. He takes care that the trees fit the landscape.

            DW – 30th June 2022

            5 votes
          2. [6]
            lou
            Link Parent
            I assume the reason for something like that is to keep improving until one day it's so cheap an efficient that it actually is better than a dude planting trees. And trees take time to grow, right?

            I assume the reason for something like that is to keep improving until one day it's so cheap an efficient that it actually is better than a dude planting trees.

            And trees take time to grow, right?

            2 votes
            1. [3]
              archevel
              Link Parent
              Which is how they capture CO2. So net possitive essentially from the get go, whereas projects like this have at least some initial environmental cost.

              And trees take time to grow, right?

              Which is how they capture CO2. So net possitive essentially from the get go, whereas projects like this have at least some initial environmental cost.

              5 votes
              1. [2]
                mycketforvirrad
                Link Parent
                A Vox video popped up in my YouTube feed that talked about this. An interesting watch for anyone interested in the process. What if there were 1 trillion more trees? Vox – Jean-François Bastin –...

                Which is how they capture CO2.

                A Vox video popped up in my YouTube feed that talked about this. An interesting watch for anyone interested in the process.

                What if there were 1 trillion more trees?

                How can trees help in the fight against climate change? Dig into the efforts to rebuild damaged ecosystems and reduce carbon emissions.

                Vox – Jean-François Bastin – 27th October 2020

                3 votes
                1. MimicSquid
                  Link Parent
                  To add to it: How China Turned the Desert Green (and why it went wrong) by Mossy Earth, a non-profit focused on habitat restoration. It talks a good bit about the ways that planting trees can...

                  To add to it: How China Turned the Desert Green (and why it went wrong) by Mossy Earth, a non-profit focused on habitat restoration. It talks a good bit about the ways that planting trees can work, and also how it can fail to work.

                  3 votes
            2. [2]
              rogue_cricket
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              Trees have the benefit of being cheap and the 'technology' being ready now. They don't require a hookup to an existing power grid, and don't really require much human oversight or upkeep. I don't...

              Trees have the benefit of being cheap and the 'technology' being ready now. They don't require a hookup to an existing power grid, and don't really require much human oversight or upkeep. I don't think it's a magic bullet, but it's something.

              As for time, so what? They capture some carbon as they breathe, and I fail to see how that's an argument against starting ASAP because the alternative is... twiddling our thumbs while waiting for a bunch of businesspeople to sell us an engineered solution.

              And I do think it is worth keeping in mind that these people are selling a product, even if ostensibly it could be a social good. Everything they say about themselves publicly is going to be a sales pitch. They want to make money and there is absolutely baggage associated with that - many people will exaggerate, lie, and cheat when profit is at stake. (A frustrating and embarrassing 'green energy' con has happened once in my province already - I'll edit with a link when I have the time.)

              EDIT: My government scammed (or in corrupt collusion with) green energy conmen in 2019:

              https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-gaetan-thomas-1.5131620

              https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/joi-scientific-technology-update-1.5340245

              3 votes
              1. lou
                (edited )
                Link Parent
                I'm basically steelmanning this thing, that's all. It's a useful recourse for speculation. Of course it's a good idea to keep planting trees, but it may prove worthy to also invest in carbon...

                I'm basically steelmanning this thing, that's all. It's a useful recourse for speculation. Of course it's a good idea to keep planting trees, but it may prove worthy to also invest in carbon sequestering technology. Maybe it makes sense to invest in both in the long run.

                3 votes
      2. lou
        Link Parent
        Well Bill Gates is involved so I guess it is evil /s.

        Well Bill Gates is involved so I guess it is evil /s.

        1 vote