Removing carbon from the atmosphere to save us from climate change is a controversial notion, but faith is growing in some new technologies.
It was the second machine they built that attracted global attention. In May this year, on the flat plains of an Icelandic geothermal reserve, a gigantic vacuum cleaner designed to suck planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the sky was switched on.The machine, called Mammoth, would not be entirely out of place on a Mad Max set. It will soon start extracting up to 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere a year to be fossilised, locking it safely and permanently underground.
Much of that will be done by restoring and expanding forests, he says. But technological fixes will be needed, too.“We have a possibly unfair advantage over the competition because of the beauty of our machines,” he says, pointing to a photograph of Mammoth’s gigantic air intake fans during an interview earlier this week. “Having metal in the ground there makes it so concrete and real when you’re standing there and hear those machines at those gorgeous injection sites in Iceland.
Some see it as an expensive and risky distraction at best and a method of corporate greenwashing at worst. Chevron’s Gorgon gas project, the single largest fossil fuel development in Australian history and one of the largest on earth, was approved on the proviso that it captured and stored 80 per cent of its emissions, around 4 million tonnes of CO₂ a year.
The industry and friendly politicians also use the promises of technological fixes like carbon capture as an excuse to keep pumping out more pollution. He also fears that a focus on technology comes with a significant opportunity cost. And every dollar spent on fixes that might work is one not spent on investment in proven clean energy.
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