Title:

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California Riverside, USA

Climate Action Champion Professor

Fellow—the National Academy of Inventors

Fellow—the Frontier National Academy of Engineering

Fellow—the American Association of University Women

Presentation title:

Direct Air Capture of CO₂ and Its Use for Synthetic Aviation Fuels: The Promise of Greener Skies

Abstract:

Globally, there are currently 27 Direct Air Capture (DAC) facilities that have been established. Out of these facilities, 18 have been completed, while 130 are still in the process of development. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), all of these facilities are relatively small-scale, but together, they can remove approximately 11,000 tons of CO₂ annually. DAC technology can help mitigate difficult-to-avoid annual emissions from concrete (about 8%), transportation (about 24%), the iron-steel industry (about 11%), and wildfires (about 0.8%).

In my presentation, I will discuss the current state of commercial DAC technologies and the five essential pillars of technology required in the process. These include capture technologies, energy demand, final costs, environmental impacts, and political support. I will explain the processing steps for liquid and solid carbon capture technologies and highlight their specific energy requirements. Additionally, I will delve into the capital and operational costs of DAC, including the plant power energy sources, land, and water needs. Lastly, I will discuss a possible scenario for using captured CO₂, where CO₂ captured from the air can be used as a climate-neutral raw material for synthetic aviation fuels.

Mail: mihri@ece.ucr.edu