Carbon Sucking Factory!

In our little planet, we have a smorgasbord of problems but one of them has been rocking the boat since forever. I am talking about Carbon Emission. Well, now it seems like we’ve finally found a solution! Continue Reading to Find Out.

The Story So Far

Carbon dioxide, in my opinion is agathokakological. It is a friend but it is also a foe, one that is threatening the world. You see, Carbon Emission rate has been steadily increasing since the first Industrial Revolution.

Today, the it is increasing year by year. If the carbon emission rate goes up at this pace, then it’ll be unstoppable. To put it simply, we’ll die, not only us humans but the entire ecosystem will collapse.

That is why companies these days are trying their best to go eco-friendly, but I still don’t know the impact, removing a charger from the box has to the environment. (Apple Inc)

Anyways, you get the point. We need to reduce Carbon Emission and thankfully there are certain companies which are dedicated to doing just that.

The Solution

2 companies named ‘Clime Works’ (a swiss company) and an Icelandic company name ‘Carbfix’ built a carbon capture plant in Iceland named Orca. Orka in Icelandic means Energy. Orca is a new carbon capture facility that can suck up to 4000 tons of Carbon every year.

Orca. Image Credit - Bloomberg

According to the UN carbon capture plants like Orca are very much required for the world to be carbon neutral by 2050. As of now Orca is the largest carbon capture facility. It took almost 18 months to complete building the plant and it has been running for the past 3 weeks.

How Does it Work?

Orca in simple terms, is a carbon sucking factory. The process is as follows :-

First, there is a fan that draws air into the collector.
With the help of a filter, all the air is let out except for carbon.
Then, the collector is closed and the temperature is raised, in order to get the purest form of carbon.
After that, the carbon is *mineralized.
Voila! The Carbon is now completely defenestrated.

The fans in Orca. Image Credit - Smithsonian Magazine

*Mineralization means to trap carbon into rocks so that the carbon doesn’t escape out to the environment. It is a natural chemical reaction but can be sped up artificially.

Most of the rocks used for mineralization are either Igneous or Metamorphic. Some of the rocks which can be used for mineralization are- Basalt and Carbonate. You can learn more about mineralization by checking out this website.

Negatives ☹️

Almost everything has a negative side along with some positives. Listed below are all the negative things about Orca :-

I mentioned above that Orca sucks up about 4000 tones of carbon every year, which is impressive but it is just a blade of grass compared to the amount that we omit in a year. The world, omits 4000 tones of carbon EVERY 4 SECONDS. That in my opinion feels like preposterous but that’s the reality, like it or not.
It is the biggest carbon capture plant as of now, which is true but there are only 2 facilities like Orca
It is stupendously expensive to run and maintain a plant like Orca. Christoph Gebald, Climeworks’ co-founder, told the Washington Post that it costs at least $600 to capture one metric ton of carbon dioxide, since super-heating the air takes a lot of energy.

The Inside of Orca. Image Credit - insideclimatenews

The End Story

Orca is not completely reliable, yes it is a very impressive technology, but it is nowhere near to reliable. But, it is said that Bill Gates’s Canadian Company ‘Carbon Engineering’ is designing a similar facility.

This one can suck up, 25 times more carbon than Orca does. The construction is said to start next year in Texas. So, yeah the future of Carbon Carbon Capture Facilities are promising but it is just not there yet.

Before concluding I would like to mention all the online resources that helped me make this article-

That’s it For Now,

Thanks For Reading,

Stay Home Stay Safe,

Bye👋🏻

~Rajat KR