Romero Vásquez et al. (2025): Life cycle assessment of ionic liquid-based absorption direct air capture technology: Environmental trade-offs and comparison with conventional technologies
Joaquín Romero Vásquez, Vafa Feyzi, Daniel Hospital-Benito and Javier Dufour, IN: Chemical Engineering Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.172515
Direct air capture (DAC) technologies enable the removal of atmospheric CO₂ and are increasingly considered essential for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Currently, two DAC approaches, KOH-based absorption and amine-based adsorption, are deployed at an industrial scale. Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising sorbent alternatives due to their favorable properties for CO₂ capture; however, their environmental performance remains largely unassessed. This study conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a DAC system using the ionic liquid [P66614][Im], comparing it with existing KOH absorption and amine-based adsorption systems. The analysis includes the environmental impacts of plant operation and sensitivity to energy sources. A full inventory was developed for the IL-based system, while data for conventional systems were drawn from literature.