1) A major opportunity has emerged to capture and sequester hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere as a result of these three major developments:
a) Development of a breakthrough technology (Allam Cycle) that generates power from natural gas and captures 100% of CO2 created.
b) Development of a new technology by TerraFixing Inc. that can capture CO2 from outside air (Direct Air Capture or DAC) at a relatively low estimated cost. Their technology works most cost effectively in cold, dry climates. (Note: This technology is complementary to other new relatively low-cost DAC technologies are also under development such as the ones by Verdox and Carbyon.)
c) Rapid growth of Green Bonds to finance projects that can be sold to financial organizations that have committed to investing in climate action such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, which has a combined total of over $70 trillion US dollars under management.
2) To help illustrate this opportunity, ClimateSAN has created a 3-min. and a 6-min. animated videos, which is shown in this webpage: Opportunity for Rapid Large-Scale Carbon Emissions Mitigation. This webpage also includes our 21-min. full presentation video about this opportunity.
3) To help illustrate and explain TerraFixing’s technology, we created this summary page: DRAFT: TerraFixing’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) Technology Summary. In addition, we created this 4-min. segment about the TerraFixing’s technology in our full presentation video, which can be seen at this link: Example Additional Carbon Capture Technology – TerraFixing’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) Technology (TimeCode: 9:15).
4) Given below is a summary cost estimate of a TerraFixing DAC facility along with information about resources that can help facilitate accelerated scale-up of this technology:
a) A TerraFixing DAC facility powered by 300 MW power-plant could direct air capture about 2,600,000 metric tonnes per year of CO2.The total capital cost for this DAC facility is estimated to be about $800 million US dollars.
b) The expected operating life of the TerraFixing DAC facility is 20-years.
c) If the capital cost for the DAC is assumed to be US$800m and can be financed with a 20-year Green Bond paying 5%, the annual re-payment on this bond is estimated to be approximately US$64m per year. This works out to an amortization cost of about $25/metric tonne if the DAC captures 2.6m tonnes per yr.(Note: Further research will be completed on the expected interest rate of this proposed Green Bond).
d) Given below is TerraFixing’s estimate of the expected capital and operating costs of their technology in a facility that can capture 2,600,000 metric tonnes per year of CO2:
i) Capital costs amortized over 20 years:= US$25/tonne
ii) Power costs assuming US$30/MW= US$30/tonne (The cost of power depends on energy source and needs to be verified).
iii) Cost of operations, overhead and labour = US$10/tonne
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Total Cost: US$65/tonne
e) TerraFixing’s estimate of 1 MW per tonne of CO2 captured assumes that electricity is used to heat the adsorbent bed during their technology’s evacuation step. If an Allam Cycle power plant is used, the waste heat from this cycle could be used to heat the adsorbent. If this was done, the amount of energy need per tonne of CO2 captured would be lower.
5) A TerraFixing DAC facility can also be powered by other sources of energy including wind, solar and geothermal. Since there is an urgent need for large-scale CO2 emissions mitigation and this facility can be located in many different areas that are in cold and dry climates, several organizations specializing in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) should be invited to investigate the best locations for these types of facilities. The criteria for selecting the best locations for these types of facilities should include:
a) Suitability of local outside air conditions for TerraFixing’s technology through-out the year (best when very cold and dry).
b) Availability of low-cost energy sources including natural gas, wind, solar and/or geothermal.
c) Suitability of local geological formations to store carbon dioxide on a sufficient scale.
6) Several CCUS experts in research institutes will likely become interested in the potential of TerraFixings technology if they learn about its relatively low capital and operating cost. Since these same people are typically very alarmed about the lack of progress on mitigating climate change, they may want help to accelerate its implementation. Given below are some of the many organizations that are working on CCUS issues:
a) Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute.
b) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Carbon Capture Program.
c) IEAGHG, Cheltenham, UK.
d) Norwegian CSS Research Centre.
e) Carbon Capture & Conversion Institute, Calgary, AB.
f) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is part of WRI’s U.S. Climate Program.
g) Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies Program at MIT.
h) Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Research, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Energy.gov.
i) National Carbon Capture Center (created by DOE)
j) NRCAN: Canmet-ENERGY Ottawa’s CCUS program.
k) AIChE’s Research Coordination Network – CCUS Program.
7) Some of these CCUS research centers would be interested to help complete these proposed projects: Set of Proposed Research Projects Relating an Opportunity that has Emerged to Reduce Carbon Emissions on a Global Scale.
8) Research funding can come from the existing sources for these institutes and very high net worth (VHNW) individuals who are very concerned about climate change such as billionaires like Chris Sacca, Founder and Chairman, Lowercarbon Capital.
9) To accelerate the scale-up of TerraFixing’s technology, CCUS research centers could be invited to work on projects such as the ones outlined below:
a) Select best locations for facilities using TerraFixing’s DAC technology based on the criteria outlined in section “6)” above. Then estimate the expected capital and operating costs of an appropriately sized facility based on local conditions and availability of energy.
b) Explore complementary technology options, such as Vertical Farms, for selected possible locations for implementation.
c) Explore options to receive CO2 from large emitters of this gas that can be sequestered in the same location as the DAC site.
d) Work with Green Bond specialists to evaluate selected projects and determine if they are “Green Bond Eligible”.
e) Reach out to potential partners who may want to finance and/or operate facilities.
f) Prepare proposals for funding next steps needed for scale-up.
10) To accelerate development of TerraFixing’s technology and enable a larger pool of CCUS experts to become knowledgeable about this technology, demonstration projects utilizing this technology could be implemented in major CCUS clusters such as:
a) Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) system
b) Net Zero Teesside.
Each of these CCUS clusters already have several companies working together to utilize a common CO2 sequestering service and are inviting more companies to join them to utilize this same sequestering service. To view information about these type of clusters around the world, see: Understanding Industrial CCS hubs and clusters by the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
12) Puro Earth indicates on its website that it is “the world’s first B2B marketplace, standard and registry focused solely on carbon removals”. To help companies obtain capital to build a facility, Puro-Earth helps facilitate long term off-take agreements for the carbon that is expected to be captured and stored by this facility.
13) In summary, scaling-up TerraFixing’s DAC technology with power plants that do not emit carbon emissions may be one of the biggest opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions on a global scale before 2030 and beyond. It includes the following key features:
a) Technologies are available now for scale-up.
b) We can engage both the renewable energy and fossil fuel sectors to participate in and benefit greatly from it.
c) Financial mechanisms and money are available to fund a massive scale of these technologies.
d) There are natural resources and locations available to implement this on a global scale.
14) Given below is a list of information that is now in the process being researched by ClimateSAN:
a) Capital and operating cost of 300 MW power plant running the Allam Cycle.
b) Expected cost per MW of 300 MW power plant running the Allam Cycle at close to 100% capacity utilization.
c) Expected capital cost premium for construction of power plant and DAC facility areas near or in the Arctic circle.
d) Expected cost of carbon sequestration.