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Understanding environmental trade-offs and resource demand of direct air capture technologies through comparative life-cycle assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Kavya Madhu

    (University of Freiburg)

  • Stefan Pauliuk

    (University of Freiburg)

  • Sumukha Dhathri

    (University of Freiburg)

  • Felix Creutzig

    (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change
    Technische Universität Berlin)

Abstract

Direct air capture (DAC) technologies remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from ambient air through chemical sorbents. Their scale-up is a backstop in many climate policy scenarios, but their environmental implications are debated. Here we present a comparative life-cycle assessment of two main DAC technologies coupled with carbon storage: temperature swing adsorption (TSA) and high-temperature aqueous solution (HT-Aq) DAC. Our results show that TSA DAC outperforms HT-Aq DAC by a factor of 1.3–10 in all environmental impact categories studied. With a low-carbon energy supply, HT-Aq and TSA DAC have a net carbon removal of up to 73% and 86% per ton of CO2 captured and stored. For the same climate change mitigation effect, TSA DAC needs about as much renewable energy and land occupation as a switch from gasoline to electric vehicles, but with approximately five times higher material consumption. Input requirements for chemical absorbents do not limit DAC scale-up.

Suggested Citation

  • Kavya Madhu & Stefan Pauliuk & Sumukha Dhathri & Felix Creutzig, 2021. "Understanding environmental trade-offs and resource demand of direct air capture technologies through comparative life-cycle assessment," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1035-1044, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:6:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41560-021-00922-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-021-00922-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Chen & Zhang, Xinqi & Su, Tingyu & Zhang, Yiheng & Wang, Liwei & Zhu, Xuancan, 2023. "Modification schemes of efficient sorbents for trace CO2 capture," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    2. Sina Hoseinpoori & David Pallarès & Filip Johnsson & Henrik Thunman, 2023. "A comparative exergy-based assessment of direct air capture technologies," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(7), pages 1-20, October.
    3. An, Keju & Farooqui, Azharuddin & McCoy, Sean T., 2022. "The impact of climate on solvent-based direct air capture systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    4. Selene Cobo & Ángel Galán-Martín & Victor Tulus & Mark A. J. Huijbregts & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez, 2022. "Human and planetary health implications of negative emissions technologies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Enric Prats-Salvado & Nathalie Monnerie & Christian Sattler, 2022. "Techno-Economic Assessment of the Integration of Direct Air Capture and the Production of Solar Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    6. Marvin Bachmann & Christian Zibunas & Jan Hartmann & Victor Tulus & Sangwon Suh & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez & André Bardow, 2023. "Towards circular plastics within planetary boundaries," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 599-610, May.
    7. Bansal, Sanchita & Singh, Shifali & Nangia, Priya, 2022. "Assessing the role of natural resource utilization in attaining select sustainable development goals in the era of digitalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Li, Chen & Mogollón, José M. & Tukker, Arnold & Dong, Jianning & von Terzi, Dominic & Zhang, Chunbo & Steubing, Bernhard, 2022. "Future material requirements for global sustainable offshore wind energy development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    9. Yang Qiu & Patrick Lamers & Vassilis Daioglou & Noah McQueen & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Mathijs Harmsen & Jennifer Wilcox & André Bardow & Sangwon Suh, 2022. "Environmental trade-offs of direct air capture technologies in climate change mitigation toward 2100," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Motlaghzadeh, Kasra & Schweizer, Vanessa & Craik, Neil & Moreno-Cruz, Juan, 2023. "Key uncertainties behind global projections of direct air capture deployment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).

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