Key facts
- A new lab-scale device captures carbon dioxide using a battery-like electrochemical process.
- The device uses approximately 0.8 megawatt-hours of electricity per ton of captured CO2.
- Current carbon capture facilities use between 1.5 to 3 megawatt-hours per ton of CO2.
- A startup, RepAir Carbon, is based on this technology and is assessing its financial feasibility.
- The estimated cost for a small pilot plant is $566 per ton of captured CO2.
- Projected cost for a plant with a thousand times the pilot capacity is $92 per ton of captured CO2.
Researchers have developed a lab-scale device that captures carbon dioxide using a battery-like electrochemical process, potentially offering a more energy-efficient method than current technologies. The device, made of nine stacked cells, uses electricity at a rate of approximately 0.8 megawatt-hours per ton of captured CO2. This is significantly lower than the 1.5 to 3 megawatt-hours per ton used by existing facilities that capture carbon from ambient air. Several researchers involved in the project are part of a startup called RepAir Carbon, which is assessing the financial feasibility of scaling the technology. They estimate the cost for an initial small pilot plant at $566 per ton of captured CO2. Using cost scaling models from the lithium-ion battery industry, they project that a plant with a thousand times the capacity of their pilot could achieve costs of $92 per ton of captured CO2. This target price is considerably lower than that of companies like Climeworks, which aims for $250-$350 per ton by 2030. Achieving costs around $100 per ton has long been a goal in the carbon-capture industry, as it could spur wider adoption.