Driving down the cost of direct air capture with intelligent policy design and technology deployment

6 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2022

See all articles by John Young

John Young

Research Centre for Carbon Solutions

Noah McQueen

University of Pennsylvania

Charithea Charalambous

Heriot-Watt University

Spyros Foteinis

Heriot-Watt University

Olivia Hawrot

Heriot-Watt University

Manuel Ojeda

Heriot-Watt University

Hélène Pilorgé

University of Pennsylvania

Joh Andresen

Heriot-Watt University

Peter Psarras

University of Pennsylvania

Phil Renforth

Heriot-Watt University

Susana Garcia

Heriot-Watt University

Mijndert Van der Spek

Heriot Watt University

Date Written: November 15, 2022

Abstract

Direct air capture and storage (DACS) is a technology that can provide vital negative emissions in pursuing the net-zero target and a net-negative future. However, huge uncertainties remain over the cost of DACS today and how we can drive down the cost of DACS in the future. In this study, we aim to help clarify these issues by calculating the cost of a first-of-a-kind DACS plant across four DACS technologies. Here, we apply contingencies and cost-adders for a first-of-a-kind plant that are often neglected in academic techno-economic studies. Then we show how we can reduce the future cost of DACS through technological learning, siting, and smart policy selection. We show that the cost of DACS may be thousands of dollars per tonne of CO2 today, but in the future, this can come down to somewhere between $80-600 per tonne of CO2. Intelligent siting and selection of energy sources have the potential to save up to a few thousand dollars per tonne of CO2. Finally, we analyse policies that can create a market for carbon removal, accelerate technology scale-up, and reduce long-term costs. We hope policymakers and academics can use these results to design pathways to enable this potential new industry and limit the planet's warming to 1.5°C.

Keywords: Direct air capture; carbon dioxide removal; negative emission technologies; techno-economics; policy; learning curves; technological learning; regional analysis

Suggested Citation

Young, John and McQueen, Noah and Charalambous, Charithea and Foteinis, Spyros and Hawrot, Olivia and Ojeda, Manuel and Pilorgé, Hélène and Andresen, Joh and Psarras, Peter and Renforth, Phil and Garcia, Susana and Van der Spek, Mijndert, Driving down the cost of direct air capture with intelligent policy design and technology deployment (November 15, 2022). Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16) 23-24 Oct 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4277708 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4277708

John Young

Research Centre for Carbon Solutions ( email )

Edinburgh, EH14 4AS
United Kingdom

Noah McQueen

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

220 S 33rd St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Charithea Charalambous

Heriot-Watt University ( email )

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://rccs.hw.ac.uk/

Spyros Foteinis

Heriot-Watt University

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Olivia Hawrot

Heriot-Watt University

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Manuel Ojeda

Heriot-Watt University

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Hélène Pilorgé

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Joh Andresen

Heriot-Watt University

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Peter Psarras

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Phil Renforth

Heriot-Watt University

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Susana Garcia

Heriot-Watt University ( email )

Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, EH14 1AS
United Kingdom

Mijndert Van der Spek (Contact Author)

Heriot Watt University ( email )

Institute of Petroleum Engineering
Edinburgh, EH144AS
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.rccs.hw.ac.uk

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