Capturing CO₂ using novel direct air capture for storage or reuse 

Industry context

With an estimated 10 gigatonnes of CO₂ per year needed to be removed by 2050 to reach global warming targets, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies like direct air capture (DAC) for large scale deployment of CO₂ removal, will be required. 

With the lower concentrations of CO2 in air, relative to pre or post combustion capture from industrial processes, and the high energy penalty of extracting the CO2, the cost of DAC needs to decrease dramatically for it to be a practical solution.  

Project overview: 

Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology developer CO2CirculAir developed its novel capture technology, SMART-DAC, gathering CO2 directly from the air by utilising natural airflow. This avoids using energy-intensive air blowers, while harnessing renewable energy to power the absorbent regeneration process – making it a zero emissions solution for CO₂ capture. 

The SMART-DAC process captures CO₂ directly from the air using two key steps:

1. Membrane Gas Absorption (MGA) – CO₂ is absorbed by a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution as it passes through a membrane, forming potassium carbonate/bicarbonate.
2. Electrodialysis Bipolar Membrane (EDBP) Regeneration – The absorbent is electrochemically regenerated back into KOH, releasing concentrated CO₂ for collection.

A built-in smart tanker system ensures continuous operation during low airflow and enables flexible use of surplus or renewable electricity, such as solar or wind.

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A significant milestone was reached in 2023 in the acceleration of the technology with the construction of the pilot plant in Larne, Northern Ireland. In September 2023, SMARTDAC successfully demonstrated the capture of CO₂, one of the first projects to demonstrate CO₂ capture from the atmosphere in the UK and is expected to capture at least 100 tonnes of CO₂ from the air every year. ​

Outcome

SMART-DAC had completed 467 operational days between September 2023 and March 2025, capturing at rates in excess of 100 tonnes of CO₂ per year with a final CO2 purity of over 98%.

​Built on a modular design, the scale-up of a commercial plant to capture at least 50 kilotonnes (kT) of CO₂ a year is expected by 2030. This would be big enough to combine with low-carbon hydrogen to manufacture green methanol, which can be used as a shipping fuel, or possibly other synthetic fuels.​

The scalability and sustainability of the SMART-DAC system makes it an affordable solution to small, medium, and large-scale capture of CO₂. 

A scalable and affordable solution to DAC ​

Capture at least 1 kT of CO2 annually ​

Commercial plant to capture at least 50 kT of CO2 a year is expected by 2030.

A scalable and affordable solution to DAC ​

Capture at least 1 kT of CO2 annually ​

Commercial plant to capture at least 50 kT of CO2 a year is expected by 2030.