280 Earth, a developer of direct air capture (DAC) systems, has completed construction and begun operations at its DAC facility in Dalles, Oregon. The facility will remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change.
The process and purpose of DAC are to achieve CO2 removal and be a negative emissions technology. According to the International Energy Agency, DAC must be scaled to capture more than 980 megatons of carbon dioxide annually by 2050.
The captured CO2 from 280 Earth's facility will be permanently sequestered underground or used as a feedstock for industrial uses such as synthetic fuels, carbon-negative concrete, or food production.
The first phase of the commercial demonstration facility will capture up to 500 tons per year of CO2 and water from ambient air. The CO2 will be liquefied and sequestered off-site or used in various industrial processes, while the water can be used for cooling or other end uses.
The facility is instrumented to help validate scale-up plans for 280 Earth’s technology as it plans to increase the capture capabilities to nearly 5,000 tons per year.
280 Earth’s direct air capture installation maximizes environmental benefits by using electricity with low carbon content, namely from hydropower on the local grid. In addition, the company’s low-temperature desorption process will help minimize energy consumption by utilizing waste heat from nearby third-party industrial processes.
Equipment in the facility is manufactured by American-based vendors and is being assembled with significant union labor content.
To support the facility's construction, 280 Earth has officially filled and closed a $50 Million Series B Round of investment.
