Journal Article

FZJ-2021-05753

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Life-cycle assessment of an industrial direct air capture process based on temperature–vacuum swing adsorption

Deutz, S.RWTH* ; Bardow, A. (Corresponding author)RWTH*FZJ*

2021
Nature Publishing Group London

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/30565  doi:10.1038/s41560-020-00771-9

Abstract: Current climate targets require negative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Direct air capture is a promising negative emission technology, but energy and material demands lead to trade-offs with indirect emissions and other environmental impacts. Here, we show by life-cycle assessment that the commercial direct air capture plants in Hinwil and Hellisheiði operated by Climeworks can already achieve negative emissions today, with carbon capture efficiencies of 85.4% and 93.1%. The climate benefits of direct air capture, however, depend strongly on the energy source. When using low-carbon energy, as in Hellisheiði, adsorbent choice and plant construction become more important, inducing up to 45 and 15 gCO2e per kilogram CO2 captured, respectively. Large-scale deployment of direct air capture for 1% of the global annual CO2 emissions would not be limited by material and energy availability. However, the current small-scale production of amines for the adsorbent would need to be scaled up by more than an order of magnitude. Other environmental impacts would increase by less than 0.057% when using wind power and by up to 0.30% for the global electricity mix forecasted for 2050. Energy source and efficiency are essential for direct air capture to enable both negative emissions and low-carbon fuels.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Modellierung von Energiesystemen (IEK-10)

Research Program(s):

1. 899 - ohne Topic (POF4-899) (POF4-899)

Appears in the scientific report 2021

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Database coverage:
; ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Engineering, Computing and Technology ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 40 ; JCR ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection

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