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Canada plans world leading direct air capture hub

13/12/2023

News

Artist's graphic of Airhive's direct air capture unit Photo: Airhive
Deep Sky’s Alpha facility will use Airhive’s technology to remove 1,000 t/y of CO2

Photo: Airhive

Airhive, a UK-based direct air capture (DAC) startup, is to deliver and install a modular DAC unit to be operated at Deep Sky’s pilot facility in Quebec in 2024.

The unit at Deep Sky’s Alpha facility will have the capacity to remove 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, making it one of the largest installed end-to-end DAC systems in the world.  

 

Airhive’s fluidisation process uses naturally carbon-absorbing rock minerals and increases their capacity to uptake CO2 by reforming them into small particles with very high surface areas. The particles then get ‘fluidised’, creating a turbulent sandstorm-like cloud in which the particles rapidly collide with the CO2 molecules in the air. The company says this process removes close to 100% of the CO2 in air passed through its system in less than 0.1 seconds.  

 

It has been successfully demonstrated at Airhive’s London laboratory and at an 80-tonne pilot facility in Teesside, UK.

 

The partnership aims to validate the technology for commercial deployment as part of Deep Sky’s mission to develop Canada into a world-leading hub for carbon removal.  

 

Powered by renewable energy, Deep Sky’s facilities are strategically located in Quebec, a region with an abundance of hydroelectric power, immense wind power potential and the rich geological makeup required for carbon capture.