Direct air capture (DAC) company Carbon Collect has announced the development of its second-generation MechanicalTree, a system that is designed to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere.
According to Carbon Collect, its technology mimics the natural process of photosynthesis, where trees absorb CO2 from the air, but in a manner that uses engineered materials and processes.
The company states that these processes build upon the system’s original design by capturing more CO2 per unit of energy due to advancements in sorbent materials and regeneration technology.
The modular design of the system allows multiple units to be deployed together in clusters, or ‘carbon farms’, which can scale up to capture large amounts of CO2
Pól Ó Móráin, CEO of Carbon Collect, said that the technology results from listening to the market and working with experts, adding that Carbon Clean ‘is now delivering a solution that is more efficient, scalable and cost-effective than anything that has come before it.’
A ‘carbon farm’ comprising a collection of MechanicalTree systems. ©Carbon Collect/Silicon Kingdom Holdings
“It represents a major milestone not just for Carbon Collect, but for the entire DAC industry,” he added.
The MechanicalTree design works by extending vertically to ten metres, becoming saturated with CO2 from ambient air delivered by wind.
The column is then lowered into the regeneration chamber before captured CO2 is released and processed.
The company also claims that the system helps to reduce costs of DAC, a method which has been highly criticised for its high costs.
As of recent estimates, its cost ranges between $250 to $600 per metric tonnes of CO2 captured. This variation is due to differences in the efficiency of the technology, the energy requirements and economies of scale.
By reducing costs, Carbon Collect states that it is now closer to its target of reducing carbon capture costs to under $200 per tonne by 2030.
The first Gen-II MechanicalTree will be installed by late 2024, with commercial deployments starting in 2025.
Carbon Collect plans early deployments across the US, Europe and other regions, including a key role in the Southwest Regional Direct Air Capture Hub, funded by the US Department of Energy, to showcase the technology’s scalability and support its market expansion.
Mike Austell, Vice President of Engineering at Carbon Collect, highlighted the significance of these advancements: “This technology is the culmination of decades of research and development. The improvements we have made with the Gen-II MechanicalTree are not just incremental; they are transformative, setting a new standard for the industry.”
A realistic alternative?
The DAC process is energy-intensive and costly, primarily because CO2 is only a small fraction of the air, making capture less efficient.
Current DAC technologies can capture up to 90-100% of CO2 from processed air, but their overall impact is limited by the small scale of existing facilities.
For example, Climeworks’ Orca plant in Iceland, one of the largest operational DAC plants, captures about 4,000 tons of CO2 annually—a fraction of the billions of tons needed to make a global impact.
Climeworks’ Orca plant. ©Climeworks
With the high cost limiting its widespread adoption, DAC and its effectiveness depends on using renewable energy to power the process and ensure permanent storage or utilisation of the captured CO2.
To address these challenges, governments are stepping in. The US Department of Energy has launched initiatives like the Carbon Negative Shot, aiming to reduce DAC costs to below $100 per ton by 2030 and scale up the technology.
The European Union has made DAC a key component of its broader climate strategy, particularly through the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
One key example of an EU initiative is the Horizon Europe programme, which funds research and development in DAC and other carbon removal technologies. The European Innovation Council (EIC) has also provided funding to companies like Climeworks to scale up their DAC operations.
