Arizona State University’s (ASU) Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE) is advancing carbon management technologies that can capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from ambient air in an outdoor operating environment. The center’s long-term goal is to become the intellectual leader in this new field of sustainable energy infrastructure design, which is critical to achieving a carbon negative energy economy.  CNCE considers the economic, political, social and environmental ramifications that will arise with the availability of an affordable air capture technology. 

If you weren’t able to join us for the NCEC 2024 Annual Meeting, HERE is a link to Klaus Lackner’s History of Carbon Capture presentation. Klaus Lackner is a Research Professor with the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. Lackner developed mineral sequestration, zero emission power plants and direct air capture to balance the carbon budget. He closes the carbon cycle producing fuels and plastics with C02 from air, water, and renewable energy.

The following interview was conducted with Matt Green, Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions and Associate Professor with tenure within Chemical Engineering at ASU. He is also the Associate Director of the Biodesign Institute Center for Sustainable Macromolecular Materials and Manufacturing. His research is focused on the design, and synthesis of novel, ion-containing polymers to be used in applications such as water purification, carbon dioxide capture, nanocomposites, and micellar solution assemblies. This interview contains materials modified from the CNCE website. 

NCEC Interview Questions

1. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in carbon removal? 

One of the Center’s biggest challenges is scaling the technology, especially if total emissions continue to rise. For this reason, the center focuses on developing technologies that are scalable and focus on reducing energy consumption as well as removing carbon. Another challenging component of scaling carbon capture is cost. Because of the evolving carbon market and legislative landscape, it can be difficult to secure funding. 

2. Who are the key stakeholders in the carbon removal space? 

Given the need to scale and deploy carbon removal technologies, there are numerous key stakeholders that will support the growing demand for carbon removal. Global chemical manufacturers are an important stakeholder to meet the demand for (likely megatons) sorbent. Similarly, there is a growing demand for wells used for the injection of CO2 following sequestration. Well owners and operators are a key stakeholder in meeting this demand. Oil and gas companies currently have the infrastructure at-scale to meet these needs. Communities are also a key stakeholder in launching carbon removal technologies. 

3. What is your financial model? 

There is currently a 45Q federal tax credit of $185/ton. However, the current cost of sequestration is closer to $700/ton. Even if the technology improved, and it became financially viable to remove carbon at the tax credit amount, the US government would not have an adequate budget to afford all of the carbon that needs to be removed. 

There is also a global aspect to the financial model of carbon sequestration. Carbon border adjustments, carbon tariffs based on carbon footprints of certain goods, may be one of the more immediate effects of the new US Administration. Google has purchased 100,000 tons of carbon removal and storage from Holocene for delivery by 2032 at $100/ton. 

In general the approach to the financial model as a waste management problem, so lowest cost technology will scale. There are shorter term markets like sustainable fuels and green concrete/cement, but as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) scales it will quickly saturate those markets. 

4. How are you measuring CO2 removal?

Arizona State University’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE), with our commercial partner, Carbon Collect, is testing a prototype technology that would remove CO2  from the air through the use of MechanicalTrees™. 

• The MechanicalTree is a groundbreaking carbon dioxide (CO2) direct air capture (DAC) technology and a pioneering advancement to address climate change.

• Widespread use of such technology could help draw CO2 out of the air and reduce global warming.

• The CO2 collected by the MechanicalTrees™ can then be converted into a carbon neutral fuel or other useful chemicals, or disposed of to cancel out present or past emissions. The specific design licensed to Carbon Collect is an ASU innovation initially developed through Salt River Project sponsorship. ASU and Carbon Collect are partnered on research and commercialization of the MechanicalTree™ design. 

• On the lab scale, we can demonstrate that various sorbent varieties and regeneration techniques can increase the concentration of CO2 from the amount that is in ambient air, 400 parts per million (ppm) or 0.04%, to an enriched stream of up to five percent (then compressing to the desired end-use). This passive process does not blow air but relies on the wind. Specific projects to demonstrate these processes are listed below. 

5. How is it verified? 

Monitoring, reporting and verification framework (MRV’s) for CNCE are being led by Stephanie Arcusa, Assistant Professor, School of Complex Adaptive Systems. 

6. What are some examples of work in this space? 

Molecular mechanisms of moisture-driven DAC (MissionDAC)- MissionDAC unites a diverse team from Northern Arizona University (NAU), ASU, and University of Texas at Austin to engage in coordinated fundamental research of CO2 sorbent materials that release captured CO2  using moisture (water) rather than energy intensive heat or vacuum pressure. 

AUDACity- ASU’s DAC polymer-enhanced cyanobacterial bioproductivity (AUDACity) project focuses on developing innovative sorbent materials that capture carbon dioxide CO2  from the atmosphere when dry and deliver it when the material comes into contact with cultivation liquids, thereby enhancing the productivity of cyanobacteria. 

NuAria focuses on technology designed to be cost-effective, scalable and environmentally friendly by using sorbents from inorganic salts similar to baking soda. The technology utilizes materials such as potassium bicarbonate and activated carbon. 

7. How do groups like the New Carbon Economy Consortium allow you to further your progress? 

The next four years of technology development in this space may have to rely less on federal investments and this is where the consortium of industry, stakeholders, and policy makers can rely on collaborations to make sure technology scales in the direction it needs to, at the pace that it needs to, to have a meaningful climate impact. CNCE is primarily focused on technology development, rather than deployment, so NCEC can help them find the right partners to scale the technology.