Greenhouse gases pose a real and significant threat to the world’s ecosystems. These gases, primarily Carbon Dioxide (CO2), are responsible for deteriorating the delicate balance of nature.
Now, in an attempt to reverse the trend of global warming, Carbon Engineering, a tech startup based in British Columbia, Canada, plans to remove excess greenhouse gases by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Climeworks in Sweden and Global Thermostat in New York City are two more startups working in this field. Their work is not limited to just getting rid of these gases; they want to process the captured CO2 into low carbon fuel that can be sold to soda companies and greenhouses.
Carbon Engineering has built its pilot plant in Vancouver and it is set to start capturing and producing recycled CO2 next month. The plant works like a huge air purifier where carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere and processed as pure CO2 that can be sold. The air released at the other end of the plant is cleaned of CO2.
Depending upon the success of this small pilot plant, Carbon Engineering will go for a full-scale commercial plant that can capture 100,000 tons of carbon a year, which is like recycling CO2 emitted from 300,000 cars on the road.
