Information Day am 10. September
The Helmholtz project DACStoreE - A Comprehensive Approach to Harnessing the Innovation Potential of Direct Air Capture and Storage for Reaching CO2 Neutrality – investigates the sustainable ramp up of Direct Air Capture and Storage Technology in Germany from an interdisciplinary perspective. It assesses different DAC technologies from a systems perspective and contributes to the development of novel DAC technologies using novel CO2 adsorbents, membrane-based contactors and electrochemically regenerated DAC methods. Technology and knowledge transfer is of high importance for a successful ramp-up of DACS technology. To promote dialogue between researchers and industry stakeholders, we hosted an Information Day on CO2 removal from ambient air via Direct Air Capture (DAC).
On September 10th 2024, more than 70 researchers, DACS technology developers, and stakeholders from industry and society met with members of the DACStorE consortium to learn and exchange about the current state of DACS technology.
In the morning experts from within and outside the consortium presented the state of the art of the main DAC technologies. Prof. Roland Dittmeyer (KIT IMVT) welcomed the audience and introduced the DACStorE project. Maike Schmidt (ZSW Baden-Württemberg) emphasized the relevance of DAC for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. She highlighted the need for a fast ramp-up of CDR options like DAC in the upcoming years for limiting global warming. The three DAC technologies adsorption-based, absorption-based and electrochemical regeneration were each discussed in individual talks. Patrick Behr (FZJ IMD-2), who researches materials for adsorption-based DAC, gave an overview of the function of solid sorbents and current challenges and opportunities in their designing. Absorption-based DAC was introduced by Lutong Lu (KIT IMVT). After presenting the mechanisms, current status and potential for development of absorbers, he introduced case studies such as the technology from carbon engineering and KIT IMVT’s electro-swing approaches with L-Arginine and EMAR absorption. The electro-swing approach was further explored in the following presentation “Electrochemical DAC – A game changer?” by Steffen Garbe (Phlair). He introduced the innovative technology of Phlair for DAC and explained in detail the great potential for reductions in energy demand and capture costs which electrochemical approaches could achieve in the future. The morning’s state of the art presentations were complemented with presentations on system integration of DAC. Thomas Schöb (FZJ ICE-2) presented energy demands for DAC Operation and future capture costs in Germany in the year 2045. Prof. Roland Dittmeyer (KIT IMVT) showed how DAC can be integrated in ventilation systems of existing buildings and what benefits this option has.
In the afternoon the program continued with a presentation of technology and service offers by the DACStorE consortium. The subsequent poster session provided ample room for networking and fruitful discussions between researchers and industry representatives. In addition to cooperation opportunities, current challenges for stakeholders in the field of DAC in Germany were addressed. The KIT IMVT invited to a lab tour for seeing the electro-swing approaches at laboratory scale and visiting the rooftop lab. Of particular interest during the lab tour were the insights into the ongoing material development and running electro-swing experiments, which Lutong Lu gave. On the roof of the building a climeworks adsorber module is integrated into the building’s ventilation system. Prof. Roland Dittmeyer explained the layout of the system and highlighted the valuable lessons learned which came with the integration process of the DAC module in an operating ventilation system.
The day was concluded by a lively panel discussion bringing together stakeholders from research and industry, ranging from established companies to start-ups: Participants were Maike Schmidt (ZSW Baden-Württemberg), Jörg Spitzner (DACMA GmbH), Bernd Reinsch (Bosch), Steffen Garbe (Phlair), Christian Moser (1PointFive) and Roland Dittmeyer (KIT). The discussion centered around the requirements for a ramp-up of DAC in Germany and globally. Key takeaways were that the current legal framework is not sufficient to support business cases for large scale-up of DACS technology in Germany. While there are strong research activities and great expertise for DAC in Germany, the ramp-up of the technology is not sufficiently financed yet. Other countries, mainly the US, provide strong financial support for DAC projects and thus attract lots of new and large-scale DAC investments. Furthermore, it was emphasized that society at large needs to recognize and support the utilization of DACS technology. Another key point will be the technological developments in the field which could optimistically lead to future capture costs in the range of 100 – 150 €/tCO2 and in turn would enable new business cases.
