Climeworks plans to capture CO2 directly form the air using massive fans
In a valley flanked by rugged, snowy mountains, a team manoeuvres equipment into place that it hopes can help battle climate change.
South-west Iceland is the location Swiss start-up Climeworks has chosen for the world’s largest installation of giant carbon dioxide-sucking machines.
Once these fans begin operating in May, they are expected to strip 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the air each year – the equivalent of the annual electricity use of nearly 700 homes.
The gas will then be buried underground by another firm, Icelandic company CarbFix. The process is not cheap, at between $600 (£430) and $800 per ton. But it is being bankrolled by tech giants as they rush to meet net-zero targets. Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Shopify and Stripe are among 5,200 corporate clients who are paying Climeworks to remove CO2, along with 4,500 individuals who pay a monthly subscription to offset their own emissions.