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Is this the key to combatting climate change? Scientists are using a giant vacuum in Iceland dubbed The Mammoth to suck 36,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air every year
Amongst all the complex science surrounding climate change, one possible solution sounds absurdly simple.
As basic as it might sound, scientists have now built a giant vacuum to literally suck the CO2 back out of the air.
The massive plant in Iceland, dubbed the Mammoth, uses huge steel fans to draw in CO2, dissolve the gas in water, and pump it deep underground.
At its maximum capacity, Climeworks, the company behind the plant, says the vacuum will be capable of pulling 36,000 tonnes of CO2 from the skies every year.
While this is only a tiny fraction of the world's emissions, Climeworks thinks that pumps like The Mammoth are key to fighting climate change.
Scientists have developed a massive vacuum in Iceland to suck up to 36,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air every single year
The Mammoth, as the plant has been dubbed, uses 72 modular collection chambers to filter CO2 out of the air using power from a nearby geothermal power plant
Construction on the Mammoth began in June 2022 but the plant has only just been switched on.
Its modular design allows for 72 'collection containers' which extract carbon from the air, although only 12 are currently installed.
These use energy from a nearby geothermal power plant to drive large steel fans which pull in ambient air from the atmosphere towards special filters which trap CO2.
When the filters are full, they are sealed and the temperature inside the container rises to 100°C (212°F).
This releases the carbon from the filter so that it can be washed away by jets of high-pressure steam.
Just like any carbonated drink, the gas dissolves into the water to make a fizzy solution which is pumped deep into the volcanic rocks beneath the plant.
As the water percolates back towards the surface, the CO2 reacts with the basalt and turns into stone over a few years.
Direct air capture works by pulling ambient air through a series of filters (left) to trap CO2. These chambers are then heated and steam is injected to dissolve the CO2 into water (right)
The resulting mixture of CO2 and water is injected into the volcanic basalt beneath the plant where it slowly turns into rock
Last year, humans produced around 37 billion tonnes of C02 by burning fossil fuels for energy.
Critics say that the simplest way to cut down the CO2 in the atmosphere is by reducing the amount of fossil fuels that are burned in the first place.
However, others point out that time is needed to transition towards renewables and some industries like steel production may prove very difficult to transition at all.
For that reason, proponents of 'carbon capture and storage' argue that we need plants like The Mammoth to give humanity a buffer while emissions fall.
According to the UN's climate body, the world will need to remove between six and 16 billion tonnes of CO2 every year to keep temperatures from rising by 1.5°C.
Climeworks says that its plant (pictured) will be key to fighting climate change, by providing part of the estimated 60 million tonnes of CO2 capture needed by 2030
Only 12 of the 72 collection containers (pictured) are currently active but the company plans to add more throughout the year
Likewise, the International Energy Agency estimates that the world needs to store at least 60 million tonnes per year by 2030.
The Mammoth is nine times larger than a previous carbon capture plant built by Climeworks in 2021 and is currently one of the largest in the world.
At its maximum capacity of 36,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, it could reduce global emissions by the equivalent of 7,800 petrol-powered cars.
However, that impressive figure is only equivalent to 30 seconds of the world's annual CO2 emissions.
The technology behind 'direct air capture' has progressed quickly but is still being held back by a lack of scale and the cost of carbon capture.
Compared with reforesting, which can cost as little as £10 ($12.56) per tonne of CO2 captured, direct air capture is extremely expensive.
The company is staying quiet on the exact costs but executives told a call with reporters that the cost is close to £796 ($1,000) per tonne.
However, the company aims to bring that cost down to £239 ($300) a tonne by 1030 and only £80 ($100) per tonne by 2050.
To keep its own carbon emissions low, The Mammoth's massive fans are powered using Iceland's geothermal energy
The plant is nine times larger than a previous plant created by Climeworks in 2021 which had been the biggest in the world when it was built
Despite the monumental challenges ahead for carbon capture technology, Climeworks' executives remain positive.
Jan Wurzbacher, Climeworks chief executive says: 'We started a long time ago [in 2009] in the laboratory, We had a little reactor as big as a mobile phone and it captured a few milligrams of carbon dioxide.
'It’s a quite big journey we’ve done already and I think that [Mammoth] is a very strong basis to do the next steps,' Mr Wurzbacher told The Times.
Climeworks is currently working on a £40 million ($50m) US government-funded facility in Louisiana which could capture a million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
Climeworks sells carbon capture credits for around £796 ($1,000) per tonne and claims to have already sold 100,000 tonnes worth of CO2 capture credits to companies
Nor are they the only company to see carbon capture as a profitable opportunity, as many companies are now looking to buy carbon capture credits to offset their emissions.
Climeworks says it has already sold credits for the offset of 100,000 tonnes of CO2 that it intends to remove - although this would take around three years at maximum capacity.
The Stratos plant currently under construction in Texas, for example, is designed to remove 500,000 tonnes of carbon per year.
Mr Wurzbacher added: 'Let’s look at the wind industry, let’s even look at the oil and gas industry.
'Is there a track record that humanity has invented a technical solution for something and then within 30 years scaled it up to a globally relevant scale?
'The answer is yes, there are several track records. So we have shown as humans that we can do it.'