Mitigating climate change requires reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Not emitting more of it is a key part of the effort but taking some out of the atmosphere will also be important. Direct air capture is the process by which this happens.
Direct air capture projects tend to be large and are typically focused on removing at least a million tons of carbon dioxide annually from a specific location. Unfortunately, many major projects have now been delayed or cancelled because of funding cuts by the Trump administration.
A brewpub in Alameda, California is now making beer by literally taking CO2 out the air to provide the bubbles. They are using a machine made by a local company called Aircapture that looks like an oversized HVAC unit with a chimney on top, located in back of the brewpub. It performs direct air capture on the spot. Another machine liquifies the captured carbon dioxide and turns it into a pure, beverage-grade product.
Air capture machines at a few pubs aren’t going to put a dent in global carbon levels, but the technology employed could be very useful for the climate. If carbon capture becomes cheaper and more widely available, it could end up being used in many ways. Carbon dioxide is actually a widely used substance for many purposes and most of it for the commercial market is captured as a byproduct from other industries and generally has a high carbon footprint. Using such carbon dioxide can result in there being more of it in the atmosphere. These small machines could change that situation dramatically.
