Orca: World's largest plant capturing carbon dioxide from atmosphere starts in Iceland
The plant, dubbed Orca after the Icelandic word "orka," which means "energy," comprises four units, each of which is made up of two metal boxes that resemble the containers used for marine shipping
FollowThe world's largest factory for sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into rock began operations on Wednesday, according to the company behind the project.
The plant, dubbed Orca after the Icelandic word "orka," which means "energy," comprises four units, each of which is made up of two metal boxes that resemble the containers used for marine shipping. According to the firm, the fully operational facility built by Climeworks in Switzerland and Carbfix in Iceland would remove 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere each year.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this is equivalent to about 870 automobiles. The plant utilises fans to pull air into a collector that contains a filter material to collect carbon dioxide. After filling the filter material with CO2, the collector is closed, and the temperature is raised to release the CO2 from the material, allowing the highly concentrated gas to be collected.
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The CO2 is then mixed with water before being injected at a depth of 1,000 metres into petrified basalt rock nearby. Proponents of so-called carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies think these technologies have the potential to be a significant weapon in the battle against climate change. The separated carbon is then combined with water and pumped far down, where it gradually transforms into rock. Both technologies run on sustainable energy from a neighbouring geothermal power plant. On the other hand, critics claim that the technology is still costly and that it will take decades to scale up.
