Groundbreaking technology that captures the global-warming gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is being put through its paces at Dublin Airport.
The team behind the technology is hoping to demonstrate its wider potential for capturing carbon in aviation and when e-fuels are generated.
Developed by Prof Wolfgang Schmitt and Dr Sebastien Vaesen from Trinity’s School of Chemistry and the Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (Amber), it focuses on delivering energy-efficient solutions to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide to help reduce industrial emissions of the greenhouse gas.
This involves what is known as direct air capture, which is literally sucking carbon dioxide out of the air. Scientists believe such is the level of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere due to human activities, especially, burning of fossil fuels, capturing carbon will need to be widely deployed.
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The problem up to now is that the technology is expensive and has yet to prove efficient in removing large volumes of carbon dioxide – such as what would be emitted in heavy industry or at major airports.
Despite this, leading climate scientists believe capturing carbon will be a critical tool in achieving net-zero emissions, with potential to drive real, measurable change in combatting climate change.
This deployment moves the technology out of the lab, marking the first industrial-scale field test of the technology in Ireland. The demonstrator has been operating for three months at the airport, collecting critical data on efficiency, operational stability and energy consumption.
This will provide crucial validation of technology performance and shape future development and commercial applications, said Prof Schmitt. The Airin Motion project has been funded by the European Innovation Council and supported by Enterprise Ireland.
“Atmospheric carbon capture innovations are crucial because they directly address one of the most pressing challenges we face today – reducing carbon emissions from industries that can’t easily eliminate them at the source,” he added.
“By advancing and integrating this technology across industries, we are not only reducing emissions but also creating economic opportunities through supplying high-purity CO₂ that align with global sustainability goals.”
This technology has the potential to be a cornerstone in global efforts to combat climate change, he said.
Captured carbon can in theory be repurposed, with possible options including its use in carbonated drinks.
“Our technology is designed for industrial deployment, efficiently capturing carbon dioxide from the air while utilising low-grade waste heat from industries,” said the technical lead on the project, Dr Vaesen saod.
“Deployment at Dublin Airport is a key validation for scaling up and allows us to gather critical performance data in a live operational setting and fine-tune it for long-term sustainable operation,” he said.
Their “test rig” installed at the airport has novel design features, he added, which make it very efficient at removing the carbon dioxide.
It was developed in response to the European Commission’s ReFuelEU aviation legislation, which requires sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) comprise 2 per cent of fuel at EU airports by 2025, increasing to 70 per cent by 2050.
Furthermore, it also requires e-fuels – which are produced from renewable electricity and sustainable carbon dioxide – constitute 50 per cent of SAF.
Andrea Carroll, director of sustainability at Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the operators of airport, said the project offered “an opportunity to explore carbon capture as a potential means of decarbonising our operations and industry”.
Researcher Dr Elham Katoueizadeh said their technology was developed over more than a decade and was ready to be implemented across industries.
