Improving our planet’s carbon footprint through direct air capture technology — Assembly

19-year-old student activist and researcher Riya Mehta writes about the importance of using carbon extraction tools to remove extensive amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

I’ve seen firsthand what happens when leaders fail to tackle air pollution, watching as people in my life develop heart conditions or lung issues due to air contamination. Without bold solutions, the situation is only going to get worse. The good news is, there are already solutions out there to reduce air pollution. I believe one of the most aggressive ways we can begin to undo the damage is through direct air capture (DAC).

Carbon capture is a method of extracting carbon dioxide from the air before it enters the atmosphere — and DAC is one of the most promising forms of carbon capture to date. DAC technologies — like large power plant structures — use chemical reactions to extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere to produce clean air. This process is structured on three main steps; the first part involves capturing the carbon dioxide by separating CO2 from other remaining atmospheric gasses (nitrogen, oxygen, argon, etc). The gas is then compacted and transported through pipelines to a storage facility. Finally, CO2 is placed in rocks underground to be housed permanently, an activity known as carbon sequestration.

“I’ve seen firsthand what happens when leaders fail to tackle air pollution, watching as people in my life develop heart conditions or lung issues due to air contamination.”

— Riya Mehta

In order for our planet to mobilize and meet long term goals for climate justice, it's imperative to focus on the elimination of CO2 on a mass scale, as the use of a fossil-fueled fleet will be active for decades to come. Based on a report conducted by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, carbon capture and storage innovation is predicted to trap up to 90% of all CO2 emissions emitted from industrial grade power plants and thermal power stations.

Leaders often focus on renewable energy sources as a way to de-escalate the climate crisis. While renewable energy sources are needed and valuable, companies and governments should also be investing in direct air capture technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the air in mass amounts. According to the World Bank Group, more than 90% of our planet is in danger of being exposed to polluted air, which causes around 11% of global deaths. If we want to ensure a promising future for humanity, we must expand our options for minimizing the damage we’ve already caused.

One of the biggest barriers to implementation of direct air capture technology is the cost. To put it in perspective, it would take at least a trillion dollars to reach our 10 gigatonne goal at $100 per tonne of CO2. Total climate-related financing globally was only $510–$530 billion in 2017, compared to the $1.8 trillion in green energy in that same year. Much of the price associated is due to the energy needed to release the carbon and the fact that more energy-efficient systems have higher materials costs. This means that governments, investors and companies need to fund this initiative and provide more voices for this cause, the same way they rally behind renewable energy.

“In order for our planet to mobilize and meet long term goals for climate justice, it’s imperative to focus on the elimination of CO2 on a mass scale, as the use of a fossil-fueled fleet will be active for decades to come.”

— Riya Mehta

I first learned about direct air capture when I was a student at a program called The Knowledge Society, where we created projects that combined the use of exponential technology and innovation with solving world problems (in my case, focusing on carbon capture technologies to reduce the climate crisis’ impact). I became interested in working with this technology because I saw the potential of it to drastically remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, rather than just investing in gradual solutions such as renewable energy. Now, as a representative of Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran’s youth justice council and a youth advisor for United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), my main focus is on directing resources towards this objective.

Any contribution to the cause of ending climate change — whether it be at the global or local level — is considered imperative. However, world leaders hold the most daunting task of all: to ensure the safety of our planet and hand it off to the next generation. One concrete approach they can use is by advocating for direct air capture technology investment at the G20 Summit gatherings. The G20 Research Group has examined an average compliance of 20% for commitments around retreating from fossil fuels, and if state heads can shift that narrative, we can make carbon capture a core focus of climate change solutions at high profile forums.