The carbon removal technology that could change our energy future
Cutting-edge direct air capture technology could pave the way for the large-scale reduction of carbon emissions and turn pollution into sustainable new products. A University of Sydney spinout company is exploring this innovative solution towards a cleaner energy future.
âImagine if we could pull billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide directly from the air and transform it into sustainable fuels that power the world and slow climate change,â says Dr Sam Wenger, University of Sydney alumnus, Founder and CEO of Dac Labs.
âThis isnât science fiction, itâs what weâre building right now.âÂ
As Australia tackles the challenge of reaching ambitious emissions reduction targets â 43 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, net zero by 2050 ââŻone emerging solution is carbon dioxide removal via .
is a direct air capture manufacturing spinout company, supported by the University of Sydney, which is exploring a cost-effective, energy-efficient way of achieving this.
âEarth's atmosphere now holds more carbon dioxide than at any point in human history,â Sam says. Thereâs over a trillion tonnes of excess CO2 in the atmosphere. âAll that carbon dioxide remains in the air for up to 1000 years, dangerously warming the planet while itâs there. Â
âWeâre hoping our technology can change this, because the stakes could not be higher. Climate change is a massive challenge, but bold innovative solutions like direct air capture are one of the many ways to help tackle the problem.â
Dr Sam Wenger and his team are developing direct air capture technology at Dac Labs, a University of Sydney spinout company. Photo credit: Alan Richardson.
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LinkDirect Air Capture (DAC) is a technology that extracts carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. It can then either be stored or used to produce carbon-based products, such as aviation fuels and building materials, like concrete and plastics.
DAC allows extraction modules to be built anywhere to remove CO2 from the ambient air â unlike the perhaps better-known point source carbon capture which happens where the unwanted carbon is generated, such as at fossil fuel power stations or factories, before it reaches the atmosphere. Direct air capture, however, can address CO2 emissions from more dispersed sources of carbon dioxide, such as cars and planes.Â
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âWhatâs unique about our approach,â Sam says, âis itâs not energy intensive. Right now, capturing CO2 uses huge amounts of energy, making it expensive, slow and not scalable
âIn the most simple terms, we move air through a chemical solution that reacts with CO2 in the air,â Sam says. âWe obtain CO2 as a pure gas that can be sold to industry for producing sustainable jet fuel and carbon neutral products, such as building materials, beverage carbonation, green chemical production and algae production, which can be used for biofuels.Â
âWhat weâre essentially doing is building an enormous âforestâ. A forest that doesnât burn, canât be chopped down and can pull in more CO2 per square metre than any forest on earth.â
âGetting to this point involved a lot of trial and error â prototype after prototype. Right now, our experimental machines are small, but the end point of this project will be huge gigafactories â the so-called âmegaforestsâ, I mentioned.
âBy the end of the year, we want to be able to pull in 10 tonnes and then continue scaling up until weâre pulling megatonnes from the air, every year.âÂ
The University of Sydney supports researchers to âspin outâ their research intellectual property into companies, like Dac Labs, through mentoring, funding and advice. This helps researchers to bring their innovations to market and fast-tracks the process of commercialising their research.
âAs a deep tech startup, it can be difficult to secure seed funding from industry,â Sam says, âso the University of Sydney has been vital in helping us raise the funds to get going.âÂ
Professor Deanna d'Alessandro exploring direct air capture technology in the lab. Photo credit: Guy Bailey.
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LinkFor Professor Deanna DâAlessandro, the Director of the University of Sydneyâs Net Zero Institute and Dac Labsâ Scientific Advisor, this kind of innovative, entrepreneurial thinking gives her hope for the future.
âWhen I first met Sam as a PhD student, I had a renewed sense of excitement about this industry and the future,â Deanna says. âHe represents a new generation of scientists who aren't just identifying problems â they're engineering the solutions we desperately need. What makes Sam unique is he has really thought about a pathway to scale his technology.â
Deanna says the potential benefits of direct air capture are vast.
We're building an industry that's on par size-wise with the oil industry, but in reverse â taking carbon from the air instead of putting it there
âClimate change is a huge problem. We need many solutions working at the same time," Deanna says, "and direct air capture is a very powerful tool to remove greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while also improving Australiaâs energy and economic resilience.â
âWe're building an industry that's on par size-wise with the oil industry," Sam adds, "but in reverse â taking carbon from the air instead of putting it there."
âWhat keeps me going is knowing we can solve this problem in my lifetime â and that I can be part of that history.â
Header photo credit:Â Alan Richardson