Fascinating to see creative and brilliant minds at work. What are the downsides to this new technology?
The Big Inhale
On a barren Icelandic plateau, this plant sucks CO₂ out of the air before trapping it in stone. Build 10,000 more and we might stand a chance against climate change
BY VINCE BEISER, PHOTOGRAPHS BY TANYA HOUGHTON
Everyone I spoke to in the direct air capture industry says that they, too, believe the world needs to cut CO₂ emissions as deeply as possible. But that will take time, and by now, there’s already so much CO₂ in the air that even if we magically quit burning all fossil fuels tomorrow, the planet would continue to feel the effects of climate change. What’s more, renewables won’t solve all our emissions problems anytime soon: Large airplanes can’t yet run on electric batteries, and cement production generates CO₂ as a byproduct, for instance. “We’re at a stage where avoiding carbon is no longer enough,” says Wilcox, the Energy Department official. “We’re going to have to be taking it back out of the atmosphere.”
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