One of the latest and quickest rising weapons within the struggle in opposition to world warming is know-how to take away carbon dioxide from the ambiance, often known as direct air seize. Some liken it to sucking CO2 out of the ambiance. However, it isn’t an ideal science, and most strategies require a number of water. That is about to vary, with new corporations providing new methods.
Direct air seize is already a rising enterprise, and governments around the globe are including to it, offering tax incentives and grants to assist spur the trade ahead. Some of the primary companies to do it, like Climeworks and Carbon Capture, use large followers within the course of.
One, California-based startup known as Avnos is differentiating itself by creating, slightly than utilizing, water within the course of.
“We produce as opposed to consume water,” mentioned Will Kain, CEO of Avnos. “We don’t consume any heat, which is a major differentiator and allows us to be more cost-effective, more resource-efficient, and ultimately more scalable than other solutions in the space.”
Avnos invented what it calls ‘hybrid direct air seize,’ which makes use of a dehumidification know-how to supply roughly 5 tons of water per ton of CO2 captured. Others eat about that a lot or extra.
“We have the opportunity to turn a cost line item for other forms of direct air capture, in spending money on water, to a revenue line item, where we can generate revenue by selling the water that we produce directly from the air,” mentioned Kain.
Like different direct air seize corporations, Avnos is benefiting from each authorities tax credit and direct funding. Critics argue direct air seize typically isn’t going to take away sufficient carbon to make a dent within the 50 billion tons of CO2 emissions annually, however Kain argues this is only one software in a decarbonization ecosystem that features renewable vitality like wind, photo voltaic and geothermal.
Both water and captured carbon can be utilized to make sustainable aviation gas. That was significantly engaging to investor JetBlue Ventures, the enterprise capital arm of the airline, which invests in corporations trying to vary the journey trade.
“It is not only more climate friendly, but it’s also a cheaper way to pull carbon from the air and actually produce a feedstock for the future for sustainable aviation fuel,” mentioned Amy Burr, president of JetBlue Ventures.
In addition to JetBlue Ventures, Avnos is backed by shell ventures, the Grantham Foundation’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund and Rusheen Capital Management. Total funding from VC’s to this point: $35 million.
Source: www.cnbc.com”