DAC technology company Climeworks has signed a deal with British Airways to remove a portion of the airline’s carbon emissions.
Although the initial volume is small, the partnership aims to stimulate the development of the carbon removal market, which is seen by the industry as crucial to meeting global climate goals.
As part of its strategy to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050, the aviation sector must address its residual emissions. Carrie Harris, Director of Sustainability at British Airways, explained the airline’s focus on carbon removal, stating, “There is no pathway to net zero for aviation without carbon removals.”
British Airways’ agreement with Climeworks aims to help lay the foundation for large-scale carbon removal. While the current volume of removals is small compared to the airline’s total emissions, Harris stressed the strategic importance of the initiative: “We have purchased these carbon removal credits to help stimulate the carbon removals market and help lay the groundwork for the large-scale changes needed to meet our climate goals.”
Climeworks, which operates the two largest DAC plants in Iceland – Orca and Mammoth – has been expanding its capacity and aims to scale up to meet global needs for gigatonne-level CO2 removal.
Climeworks’ flagship Orca DAC project (Source: Climeworks)
Orca, which came online in 2021, captures 4,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, while Mammoth, a project that began operations earlier this year, is expected to remove up to 36,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. These projects are steps toward Climeworks’ long-term goal of removing billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The company recently launched Climeworks Solutions, offering tailored carbon removal portfolios to meet the diverse needs of businesses.
Adrian Siegrist, Chief Commercial Officer at Climeworks, highlighted the importance of private and public sector involvement in driving this growth. “Global carbon removal capacities will not grow fast enough unless we see more ambition and concrete action,” Siegrist said, praising British Airways’ commitment to addressing the scale of the challenge.
A digital rendering of Climeworks’ Mammoth project. Source: Climeworks
The DAC market is projected to grow rapidly in the coming years, with estimates suggesting the sector could scale to remove up to one billion tonnes of CO2 annually by 2050.
Investment in DAC technology has surged as industries with hard-to-abate emissions, like aviation and heavy industry, look for solutions to meet net zero targets.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global DAC capacity is set to increase 35-fold by 2030, driven by both engineered and nature-based carbon removal technologies.
