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Experts agree that reducing our carbon emissions is no longer enough. In a 2018 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the worst effects of climate change, we actually need to remove between 100 and 1000 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the 21st century.
Carbon removal can occur naturally by planting trees or by improving carbon storage in the soil through more sustainable farming practices, such as crop rotation and better livestock management. But a number of companies are also working on technical solutions for carbon removal. The process, known as direct air capture, sucks CO2 directly out of the atmosphere and buries the captured CO2 underground.
But the technology is still very expensive. According to a white paper released by Microsoft this year, the cost of direct air capture is more than 50 times the cost per metric ton of most natural climate solutions. To cover some of their costs, direct air capture companies sell the by-product, CO2, for a variety of purposes. One of the more controversial uses is EOR, or enhanced oil recovery, whereby the captured CO2 is sold to oil companies, who then inject the CO2 into old oil wells to extract even more oil.
Companies like Microsoft, Chevron, Occidental, and tech visionaries like Elon Musk and Bill Gates all invest in carbon removal technologies, but industry players stress that if the CO2 they capture must really be eliminated, they need government support.
CNBC spoke to Carbon Engineering and Climeworks, two industry leaders, to see how they plan to integrate direct air capture. Watch the video to learn more.
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