US invests $1.2 billion in two projects to capture carbon dioxide from the air

The United States announced on Friday an investment of $1.2 billion in two projects aimed at directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, marking the "largest investment ever" in this technology aimed at combating global warming, although some experts continue to criticize it.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stated in a statement, "Reducing our emissions alone will not reflect the growing consequences of climate change. We also need to capture the carbon dioxide we have released into the air."

The two projects are located in the states of Texas and Louisiana. Each project aims to capture one million tons of carbon dioxide annually - equivalent to the total annual emissions of 445,000 cars.

The US Department of Energy confirmed that the capacity of each project will be 250 times greater than the largest operational carbon capture site currently in operation.

Swiss company Climeworks, a leader in the field, currently operates a factory in Iceland with an annual capacity to capture 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air.

Climeworks will participate in the Louisiana project, which will store captured carbon dioxide underground.

According to the International Energy Agency, there are currently 27 direct air capture sites in the world, but their scope is limited. More than 130 projects are under development according to the agency.

These investments are being carried out by the Biden administration under an infrastructure law passed in 2021. The Department of Energy had previously announced its intention to invest in four projects totaling $3.5 billion.

Directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body of climate experts, to be necessary to combat rising global temperatures.

However, critics of this technology fear it could be used as an excuse to continue emitting greenhouse gases instead of transitioning to clean energy more rapidly.

Direct air capture technologies, also known as carbon removal, focus on capturing carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. This is distinct from carbon capture and storage systems, for example, which prevent additional emissions from reaching the atmosphere, often at the source in factories.

In May, the Biden administration announced a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from gas and coal-fired power plants, with a particular focus on the second technology.



AFP