On the outskirts of San Francisco, a notable change in the environmental scenario of U.S highlights: the recent opening of Heirloom Carbon Technologies’ Direct Air Capture (DAC) installation.
For the first time in North American territory, a commercial structure not only removes CO2 from the atmosphere, but also stores it safely underground, marking a significant advance in the search for effective solutions for reducing carbon emissions.
Understand how new technology works
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While many Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facilities operate globally, focusing on capturing new emissions from existing polluting processes, Heirloom’s DAC technology stands out by removing carbon of air without depending on associated industrial processes.
The company ensures safe storage by depositing carbon in underground concrete repositories.
Heirloom’s pioneering plant, located in Tracy, California, although small, is already demonstrating its potential by capturing a thousand tons of CO2 annually.
Shashank Samala, CEO and co-founder, highlights in a press release the ambitious plan to expand this capacity to millions of tons annually, replicating the basic design of the facility.
During the inauguration, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Jennifer M. Granholm, head of the Biden Administration’s Department of Energy, praised the plant as a model in line with national efforts to reduce energy consumption. carbon emissions.
Influential financiers such as Microsoft and Shopify back Heirloom, envisioning the sale of “carbon removal credits” as an advanced form of compensation for companies seeking to neutralize their own emissions.
Although initiatives such as Heirloom represent positive advances in reducing CO2 emissions, critics point to the risks associated with the sale of carbon credits, warning of the possibility that companies obtain a “license to pollute”.
Direct air capture, however, emerges as an evolution in relation to traditional carbon capture methods.
In the current environmental panorama, the question that remains is whether companies and governments are willing to transform these innovations into concrete actions to achieve an effective reduction in emissions.
The challenge has been launched, and the need for immediate action is clear for those who truly seek to face the climate crisis.
