Toulouse. What is this big CO2 “vacuum cleaner” in which Airbus invests millions of dollars?
By Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
Regularly targeted for its environmental impact, the aeronautical industry tries to find solutions to reduce its carbon footprint. Just to Toulouse, Airbus increase innovation.
Besides the development of zero-emission aircraft planned for 2035, the industrial giant regularly tests the sustainable aviation fuel – also called “SAF” for Sustainable Aviation Fuel – as an alternative to kerosene. The aircraft manufacturer is also associated with larger projects, as is the case across the Atlantic…
A giant CO2 vacuum cleaner
In July 2022, during the farnborough airshow (United Kingdom), Airbus had announced that it was joining forces with the Americans of 1PointFive to offer decarbonization solutions to the aviation market.
By 2024/2025, this American company will create, in Texasa large installation – which can be compared to a giant vacuum cleaner – able to capture and store CO2 present in the ambient air.
The device was designed by the Canadian company Carbon Engineering. It was she who instructed 1PointFive to infect this technology through installations like the one shown below:
This system could capture up to one million tons of CO2 per year. “That’s roughly equivalent to the absorptive capacity, about 40 million trees”, compare Karine Guenan, vice president of the ZEROe ecosystem at Airbus.
Airbus is investing millions in this technology
The aircraft manufacturer believes in the technology developed by Carbon Engineering and deployed by 1PointFive.
This is why it has pre-purchased – like several major airlines such as Lufthansa, LATAM, Air Canada and Air France – carbon elimination credits for the capture and permanent storage of 100,000 tonnes of CO2 each year for four years (i.e. 400,000 tons in total). “There is the possibility of obtaining a larger volume in the future”, adds Karine Guenan, the vice-president of the ZEROe ecosystem.
In addition, Airbus has invested a double-digit amount, in millions of Canadian dollars, in Carbon Engineering. “The investment helped fund a portion of Carbon Engineering’s advanced R&D technologies for direct air capture at the company’s innovation center in Squamish, British Columbia (Canada),” the report said. European group on November 17th.
Carbon dioxide stored underground…
This huge vacuum cleaner will be installed in the Permanent pool, in Texas. “It’s a big production area for oil and of natural gas whose reservoir has a storage capacity of up to 150 Gt (150,000,000,000,000 kg, editor’s note) of CO2 – i.e. 150 years of current aviation emissions,” explains Karine Guenan. But where are we going to store all this carbon dioxide?
“It is usually buried in storage sites that have been carefully selected in areas where rock and salt formations and/or depleted deposits (of natural gas or oil, editor’s note) could safely absorb CO2.”
Does the process not risk polluting the soil? “The monitoring reports have shown that the CO2 captured in liquid form remains underground and adheres well to the spores where the oil was previously”, assures the Airbusienne.
It also wishes to point out that industrial geological storage is subject to “strict national and international regulations to guarantee health, safety and environmental protection”.
… or turned into jet fuel!
This CO2 could also be entitled to a second life! And this will be of interest to many airlines… Indeed, the captured carbon dioxide can be used in the production of PtL (Power-to-Liquid).
This sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a synthetic product from CO2 and green hydrogen. It can already be mixed (up to 50%) with conventional kerosene. Today, this hydrocarbon is still too destined to produce… This could change by the end of our decade, with the development of green hydrogen.
“By capturing carbon directly from the air, PtL could contribute up to 50% to total SAF supply by 2050, which occupies an essential element of the SAF strategy of the aeronautical industry”, announces Karine Guenan. Promising.
Enough effort?
Although Airbus strongly believes in this project, the Vice-President considers the direct capture (and storage) of carbon in the air as a “additional solution”and not as a replacement, other carbon reduction solutions such as SAF and future hydrogen aircraft.
Carbon Engineering’s technology only aims to treat the residual emissions – that is, those that cannot be eliminated – that remain. “For example, SAF can offer CO2 emission reductions of up to 85% over its entire life cycle. Removing the carbon could therefore help neutralize the remaining 15%”, discovered Karine Guenan.
The intention to decarbonize is there. But will these efforts be enough? Over the next 20 years, Airbus expects passenger traffic to increase by 3.6% per year…
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