Carbon Capture Technology Explained | Seachange

Summary

The video script discusses the urgent need for carbon removal strategies to combat climate change, highlighting the potential of direct air capture technology. It explains the process of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, converting it into solid calcium carbonate, and then releasing pure CO2 for either safe burial or use in carbon-neutral products. The script emphasizes the economic and storage challenges but also the promise of scalability and the importance of integrating carbon removal as part of the climate change solution.

Takeaways

• 🌳 **Carbon Emission Crisis**: Human activities emit approximately 50 billion tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere.
• 🌍 **Urgent Need for Carbon Removal**: Carbon removal is now considered a crucial part of the strategy to combat climate change.
• 🏭 **Direct Air Capture Technology**: British Columbia's facility captures CO2 directly from the atmosphere, emphasizing the readiness of such technology.
• 🔬 **Ingenious Solutions Required**: Climate change demands all of human creativity and technological innovation for solutions.
• 💡 **Prevention Over Cure**: It's easier and more effective to prevent CO2 emissions than to remove them after they're in the atmosphere.
• 🌱 **Biological vs. Technological Strategies**: Carbon removal can be approached through biological methods like tree planting or technological methods like direct air capture.
• 🔄 **Carbon Capture Process**: The process involves four steps to concentrate CO2, starting with a fan that pulls air through a chemical reaction to capture CO2.
• ♻️ **Carbon Utilization**: Captured CO2 can be used to make carbon-neutral fuels or permanently stored to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.
• 💸 **Economic Considerations**: Direct air capture is currently expensive, but costs are expected to decrease with scale and technological advancements.
• 🌐 **Global Scale-up Needed**: To significantly reduce emissions, thousands of plants would need to be built worldwide.
• ⚖️ **Balancing Promise with Reality**: While there are grand promises about carbon removal, it's important to distinguish what's realistic and socially just.

Q & A

How much carbon dioxide do human activities emit annually?

Human activities emit about 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

What is the significance of direct air capture in the fight against climate change?

Direct air capture is significant because it allows for the removal of carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, which is considered part of Plan A for responding to climate change.

What is the current readiness of direct air capture technology?

The technology for direct air capture is ready for use now, as indicated by the presence of pilot facilities that can capture CO2 from the atmosphere.

Why is it easier to prevent CO2 emissions rather than retrieve it from the atmosphere?

It is easier to prevent a unit of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere because once it's there, the process of retrieval is more complex and energy-intensive.

What is the suggested annual amount of carbon dioxide removal by scientists?

Scientists suggest the need to remove about 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.

What are the two broad categories of carbon removal strategies mentioned in the script?

The two broad categories of carbon removal strategies are biological strategies, such as planting trees and changing farm practices, and technological or chemical-based strategies like direct air capture.

What is the process of direct air capture as described in the script?

The process of direct air capture involves four steps: 1) A fan pulls air through and reacts it with a chemical to capture 80% of the CO2. 2) The CO2-rich solution is processed to precipitate out solid calcium carbonate pellets. 3) The pellets are heated to release CO2. 4) The CO2 can then be stored or used to make products.

What are the two options for utilizing the captured CO2 as mentioned in the script?

The two options for utilizing captured CO2 are to permanently bury it somewhere safely, making it carbon negative, or to use it to make products, such as carbon-neutral fuel.

What is the current cost of capturing CO2 through direct air capture technology?

The cost point for capturing CO2 through direct air capture technology is currently a little less than $200 per ton for the first plant.

How many plants would be needed to eliminate the world's emissions according to the script?

According to the script, 40,000 plants would be needed to eliminate the world's emissions.

What is the potential impact of relying too heavily on carbon removal technology?

Relying too heavily on carbon removal technology could give society a false sense of security, potentially leading to a decrease in immediate climate response efforts.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Direct Air Capture: A Climate Change Solution

The paragraph discusses the urgency of addressing climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It highlights that human activities release approximately 50 billion tons of CO2 annually, emphasizing the need for carbon removal strategies as part of the primary response to climate change. The script introduces a company in British Columbia that is pioneering direct air capture technology, which captures CO2 from the atmosphere. The technology is presented as a viable solution that is ready for immediate implementation. The narrative also touches on the broader categories of carbon removal strategies, including biological methods like tree planting and technological approaches like direct air capture. The company's process involves four steps to capture and concentrate CO2, which can then be stored or used to create carbon-neutral products. The script concludes by discussing the economic aspects and the potential for scaling up this technology globally, with the ambitious goal of capturing one megaton of CO2, equivalent to the work of 14 million trees.

05:02

🌱 The Multifaceted Approach to Climate Change

This paragraph stresses that while direct air capture is a promising technology, it should not be considered the sole solution to climate change. It calls for a comprehensive approach that includes a variety of strategies to combat climate change effectively. The script encourages viewers to stay informed by subscribing to the channel for more videos on innovative ideas and people making a difference in the world.

Keywords

💡Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. In the video, it is highlighted as a major concern for climate change, with human activities releasing about 50 billion tons annually. The video discusses the need to reduce CO2 emissions and also to remove it from the atmosphere, emphasizing the urgency of addressing this issue.

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. The video underscores climate change as a 'nasty thing' that requires innovative solutions, including carbon removal strategies to mitigate its effects.

💡Direct Air Capture

Direct air capture is a technology that captures carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air. The video mentions this as a promising method for carbon removal, with companies like the one featured in British Columbia pioneering the technology. It is positioned as a key part of the solution to combat climate change.

💡Carbon Removal

Carbon removal involves the processes and technologies that aim to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The script discusses carbon removal as a necessary part of the climate change response strategy, with an emphasis on the need to remove about 10 billion tons per year.

💡Biological Strategies

Biological strategies refer to natural methods of carbon sequestration, such as planting trees and changing agricultural practices. The video contrasts these with technological approaches, suggesting a range of solutions to address carbon dioxide levels.

💡Technological Strategies

Technological strategies involve using advanced engineering and chemical processes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The script describes direct air capture as an example of a technological strategy that was once considered 'wacky' but is now a serious consideration.

💡Carbon Negative

Carbon negative refers to actions or processes that result in a net reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The video explains that by capturing CO2 and safely burying it, the process becomes carbon negative, thus reducing the overall level of CO2.

💡Carbon Neutral

Carbon neutral means having a net-zero carbon footprint, where the amount of carbon dioxide emitted is balanced by an equivalent amount being captured or offset. The video gives an example of using captured CO2 to make fuel, which when burned, releases CO2 back into the atmosphere, thus not adding to the total CO2.

💡Economics of Carbon Capture

The economics of carbon capture pertains to the costs associated with capturing, storing, and utilizing carbon dioxide. The video discusses the current costs of direct air capture being high but expected to decrease as the technology scales, making it a more viable enterprise.

💡Storage Questions

Storage questions refer to the challenges and considerations regarding where and how to store captured carbon dioxide over the long term. The video raises these questions as open issues that need to be addressed for carbon capture technologies to be effective.

💡Scale

Scale, in the context of the video, refers to the magnitude at which carbon capture technologies need to be implemented to have a significant impact on climate change. The script mentions the need for thousands of plants to offset global emissions, indicating the large scale required.

Highlights

Human activities emit approximately 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Carbon removal is now considered part of the primary plan to combat climate change.

British Columbia is pioneering direct atmospheric CO2 collection.

The technology for direct air capture is ready for immediate use.

Climate change requires all human ingenuity to address.

Direct air capture is being evaluated for its potential.

Preventing CO2 emissions is easier than retrieving it from the atmosphere.

Scientists suggest a need to remove about 10 billion tons of CO2 per year.

Carbon removal strategies are categorized into biological and technological/chemical methods.

Direct air capture was once considered a 'wacky scheme' but now requires serious consideration.

Economics and long-term storage of CO2 are still open questions.

A pilot facility in British Columbia captures a ton of CO2 per day.

Direct air capture targets low concentration CO2 in the atmosphere.

The carbon capture process involves four steps to concentrate CO2.

A big fan pulls air through, reacting with a chemical to capture 80% of CO2.

CO2-rich solution is turned into solid calcium carbonate pellets.

Heating the pellets releases CO2, which can be stored or used to make carbon-neutral products.

The company in Squamish combines CO2 with hydrogen to make a carbon-neutral fuel.

Direct air capture is currently expensive but costs are expected to decrease.

The company plans to license their technology for large-scale CO2 capture.

A one megaton atmospheric CO2 plant is planned in Texas, equivalent to 14 million trees.

If CO2 can be captured for $150 or less per ton, it becomes commercially viable.

Building many facilities worldwide is necessary to scale up direct air capture.

40,000 plants could eliminate the world's emissions, which is fewer than the number of power plants globally.

Carbon removal promises must be sorted from reality to effectively contribute to climate change solutions.

Carbon removal should be one of many tools in the fight against climate change.

The company views itself as an important tool but not the sole solution to climate change.

Transcripts

(dramatic music)

- All of human activities at the moment,

collectively each year, put about 50 billion tons

of carbon dioxide up into the atmosphere.

Carbon removal now has to be thought of

as part of Plan A, for responding to climate change.

- Here in British Columbia, we collect CO2

directly out of the atmosphere.

- For some people, it seems like something

that's way down the road,

but the technology's ready for us to use now.

- Climate change is a nasty thing.

And it's going to take all of human ingenuity

to get us through this moment.

What we need to look at is if direct air capture

is going to live up to its promise.

(dramatic music)

It's much easier to keep a unit of carbon dioxide

out of the atmosphere than it is

to try and retrieve it once it's already there.

So, when it comes to climate change,

the best way to respond

is to stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

In addition, scientists are suggesting

the need to remove about 10 billion tons per year.

That does have the ring of science fiction to it.

Broadly speaking, there are two different categories

of carbon removal strategies.

One is a biological category,

planting trees, changing farm practices.

Or you can, at the other end of the spectrum,

imagine more technological or chemical based strategies.

Something like direct air capture,

which would have been off the table a few decades ago,

as kind of a wacky scheme by mad scientists,

now needs real consideration.

But the economics and storage questions,

about where the carbon dioxide

can actually be held over the long term,

these are open questions.

(dramatic music)

- So, we're a carbon capture company.

We have a pilot facility,

which captures a ton of CO2 per day.

We think we're different

because we're focused on very large scale.

- There's different ways of attacking carbon capture.

What we do is direct air capture.

So, we're targeting the low concentration CO2

that's in the atmosphere.

(dramatic music)

- Fundamentally, our process has four steps.

Each step concentrates the CO2 more.

- First step is a big fan, it pulls air through.

It's reacts with a chemical

and captures 80% of the CO2 out of the air.

- We take that CO2-rich solution,

we precipitate out solid calcium carbonate pellets.

- We heat those very small pellets up,

and out comes the CO2.

You can then do two things with it.

You can choose to permanently bury it somewhere safely.

Now you've reduced the overall level of CO2,

and that's carbon negative,

or you can make products out of it.

One of the things we do here in Squamish is,

we combine our CO2 with hydrogen,

and we make a fuel that's essentially carbon neutral.

You put it in your car, you drive your car,

your car burns the CO2,

and it goes back into the atmosphere again.

And that's what carbon neutral means.

You're not adding, overall,

to the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere.

- If you think about a closed loop system,

around and around we go.

In time though, there won't be enough

to address climate change,

because the carbon dioxide has to be put into storage

to actually remove the carbon dioxide

from the atmospheric system.

Direct air capture, at the moment,

is a reasonably expensive proposition.

- Industries feel that its scaled costs

come down all the time.

That's why, as a company, we focus on large scale

and why we're also happy to license that technology

to anybody in the world who wants to build these plants.

We just announced our first large scale plant in Texas.

We're actually expecting that would be a

one megaton atmospheric CO2 plant.

That's the equivalent of 14 million trees in one plant.

Our cost point is a little less than $200 per ton

for that first plant,

but we expect the cost to come down a lot.

If carbon dioxide can be captured for

$150 or less per ton,

then it becomes almost a commercially viable enterprise,

because that carbon dioxide could be put to a use

that would enable the facility to pay for itself.

But to scale it up, would mean building lots and lots

of these facilities and spreading them around the world.

- You could eliminate the world's emissions

with 40 thousand of our plants.

Sounds like a big number, but it's actually

less than there are power plants, for example, in the world.

(dramatic music)

- Lots of grand promises have been made

about carbon removal, and one of the jobs

that has to be done now,

is to sort through the reality from the promise.

The goal is to use large scale carbon removal as

a piece of humanity's response.

But if society kind of gets the notion

that there's a "Get out of jail free" card,

then that might have perverse impacts

on climate response today.

So the trick now, is to work out

what forms of carbon removal, at what scales,

are going to make the best contribution,

and the most socially just contribution.

- We think of ourselves as a really important tool

that we have to have in the fight against climate change.

I don't think it should be the only solution,

but we need everything we can bring to the table.

- Hey, thanks for watching.

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