DAC company Climeworks inks abatement agreement with LGT
Direct-air capture (DAC) developer Climeworks said December 20 it signed a 10-year abatement agreement with Liechtenstein-based private banking firm LGT.
Climeworks said the bank signed up for a 10-year agreement whereby it will capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere on behalf of LGT. This is the third such agreement for Climeworks during the second half of 2021.
“We are proud and excited to enter this carbon removal agreement with LGT. It is very strong for two reasons: first, it is the third 10-year agreement for Climeworks, showing the increasing long-term demand for our solution, and second, it is the largest-ever direct air capture agreement signed by a bank,” Climeworks co-founder Christoph Gebald said. “LGT, and the financial services industry more broadly, shows true leadership in advancing the carbon removal market.”
Climeworks started operations at its Orca DAC facility in Iceland in September. The facility can capture 4,000 metric tons/yr of CO2. Now in service, the company said Orca proves the technology can be a viable solution to climate change.
Operations commenced less than a year and a half after construction started. Located near a geothermal power plant in Iceland, the facility runs entirely on renewable energy.
Some of the emerging processes mimic natural ways to pull CO2 out of the air, utilising a series of chemical reactions and filtration to extract the greenhouse gas and release carbon-free air back into the atmosphere. At Orca, Icelandic company Carbix will permanently store the captured CO2 underground.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found carbon capture technology is necessary to counter the impacts of climate change. DAC is an emerging technology in the energy transition, technology the US Department of Energy backed with $24mn in funding in August.