Elsayed & Alawadh (2026): Scaling Carbon Removal to Gigaton Capacity using Pressurized Direct Air Capture
Ahmed Elsayed and Thaier Alawadh, IN: ChemRxiv, https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15002130/v1
Direct Air Capture (DAC) has the potential to roll back the effects of human-induced carbon emissions on the authors’ global climate. DAC technologies essentially extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to sequester it underground. The capturing process remains expensive due to the dilute concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Current research primarily focuses on developing novel materials and solvents that can effectively reduce the energy requirements of the process. However, existing literature indicates that the authors have reached the minimum possible energy needed to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere. Instead, the authors present a new method that centers around maximizing the amount of air being treated. This process operates at high pressure to reduce contactor size by 70x, the main component of DAC facilities.