Skytree, a business located in Amsterdam, plans to use its carbon-sucking devices on a recently revealed carbon capture and storage project in Texas, USA.
The $100 million Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility, known as “Project Concho,” intends to remove 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year at first, then grow to 500,000 tonnes. This carbon will be kept on-site, underground, for all time.
According to a Skytree representative who emailed TNW, the facility is scheduled to open in 2028.
Carbon capture developers Verified Carbon from Texas and Return Carbon from the Netherlands are leading Project Concho. By selling carbon credits to businesses wishing to offset their emissions, they will make money from the facility.
Skytree has been selected by the partners to handle the carbon vacuum cleaning. The technology utilized by Skytree, which was founded in 2014, is modeled after the carbon scrubbers on board the International Space Station, which eliminate excess CO2 generated from human breath.
Skytree manufactures two machines: the industrial-scale Stratus and the small-scale Cumulus. Dozens of these devices will be deployed simultaneously as part of Project Concho to create a single hub.
Elena Nikonova, VP of Skytree’s newly opened offices in the US and Canada, stated, “Project Concho is a first-of-its-kind collaboration that opens the door to even more ambitious and transformative carbon removal projects.”
The Spanish energy company Greenalia will construct an on-site wind farm that the developers intend to use to power the hub. According to them, this would make it the first DAC project in history to run entirely on wind power.
A mutually beneficial partnership?
Although Project Concho is a unique partnership between a wind energy provider and a DAC facility, it may serve as a model for such partnerships in the future.
The wind farm will have a steady client and predictable income because the carbon capture plant promises to continuously purchase wind energy. Low-cost, renewable energy is provided to the DAC plant in exchange, which is essential for lowering the high running costs associated with large-scale carbon capture. Additionally, this agreement guarantees flexibility and consistency in energy prices, which facilitates efficient planning and growth for both parties.
Greenalia’s SVP of Business Development, Alexandre Alonso, described this as a “game-changer” for renewable energy initiatives.
Projecto Concho is part of a wave of carbon capture projects that are booming in the United States, thanks in part to hefty government subsidies. The Biden-Harris Administration said last month that it will support DAC technology with up to $1.8 billion in investment. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s 45Q tax benefit is expanded upon by this. For every metric ton of CO2 that is caught and stored, the incentive offers up to $180.
According to Rob van Straten, CEO of Skytree, “the US continues to demonstrate growing demand for proven, cost-effective, scalable DAC technology driven by the needs of industry and with the backing of government.”