Noya, an American cleantech company founded in 2020, works on Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to remove excess carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. The company retrofits existing pieces of industrial cooling towers and turns them into CO₂ capture machines, radically reducing the upfront capital costs and installation time required for direct air capture technology.
(This article contains 5 diagrams and 1318 words.)
Challenges: Carbon removal
Carbon removal is the process of permanently sequestering carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. It is essential to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and limit the increase in temperature to 1.5 ºC as outlined in the Paris Agreement.
Different methods for removing CO₂ have distinct advantages and disadvantages, with nature-based methods such as tree planting and forest restoration being the most widely used today. However, the carbon can be released back into the atmosphere when the plants die or burn, so these solutions are likely to have a shorter lifespan.
Technological carbon removal methods include carbon capture and storage (CCS), which involves capturing CO₂ from emission sources such as coal-burning power plants and converting it to other products, storing it, or burying it. Direct air capture (DAC) is another technological approach that involves removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and sequestering it underground.
Direct Air Capture CO2
Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology has several advantages. One of the biggest benefits of DAC is its siting flexibility, as it does not require arable land, thereby minimizing food impacts. DAC can be employed in a wide variety of locations and requires a smaller footprint. It is also location-independent, as CO₂ is in the air at the same concentration (0.04% or 412 ppm) everywhere in the world, making DAC highly scalable and measurable.
However, despite its benefits and flexibility, DAC is more costly per ton of CO₂ removed than many mitigation approaches and natural climate solutions, as separating very dilute CO₂ from ambient air is energy-intensive. Today, the range of costs for DAC varies between $250 and $600.
Noya Technology
Noya has developed a unique DAC technology that combines the existing pieces of industrial cooling towers with solid CO₂ sorbents. This transforms industrial cooling towers into CO₂ capture machines, which radically reduces the upfront capital costs and installation time required to perform direct air capture. Therefore, Noya's approach to DAC will enable them to scale quickly and provide low-priced carbon removal in the near-term.