Heirloom Opens First U.S. Direct Air Capture Plant
In an open-air warehouse in California’s Central Valley, 40-foot-tall racks hold hundreds of trays filled with a white powder that turns crusty as it absorbs carbon dioxide from the sky.
The start-up that built the facility, Heirloom Carbon Technologies, calls it the first commercial plant in the United States to use direct air capture, which involves vacuuming greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Another plant is operating in Iceland, and some scientists say the technique could be crucial for fighting climate change.
Related Knowledge Center: Carbon capture
The federal government is investing heavily in the development of carbon capture and storage (or sequestration), which offers the enticing prospect of preventing carbon dioxide emissions produced during combustion from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. But the technologies involved, while proven, remain expensive, an obstacle to widespread adoption.