Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies
Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require the development of cost-effective and CO2-efficient direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove atmospheric CO2. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of five solid sorbents under different technology scenarios to determine the design, ope...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Carbon Capture Science & Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277265682500020X |
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| author | Sylvanus Lilonfe Sarah Rodgers Amir F.N. Abdul-Manan Ioanna Dimitriou Jon McKechnie |
| author_facet | Sylvanus Lilonfe Sarah Rodgers Amir F.N. Abdul-Manan Ioanna Dimitriou Jon McKechnie |
| author_sort | Sylvanus Lilonfe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require the development of cost-effective and CO2-efficient direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove atmospheric CO2. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of five solid sorbents under different technology scenarios to determine the design, operations, cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of DAC technologies. The cost and GHG emissions of the five solid sorbents ranged from $20241,200–40,400/t sorbent and 3.1–12.3 tCO2e/t sorbent in 2024, respectively, mainly driven by the raw materials used for sorbent manufacture. Cost estimates for the best capture technologies ranged from $202497–168/gross tCO2 captured [$2024126–170/net tCO2 captured] in 2025 and can be further reduced to $202487–140/gross tCO2 captured [$202493–142/net tCO2 captured] in 2050. The costs of DAC are heavily influenced by: (i) economic factors (i.e. capital expenses and energy costs), (ii) design elements (i.e. plant scale) and (iii) technical parameters (i.e. sorbent's adsorption rate and time). Conversely, the GHG emissions of DAC are mostly determined by the source of energy. Price signals in existing carbon markets are inadequate to support a DAC project, but a forecasted carbon price increase to $140–240/tCO2 by 2030–2050 could make DAC commercially viable. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3e43e5922bac4b978f363d39db2b7d84 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2772-6568 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Carbon Capture Science & Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-3e43e5922bac4b978f363d39db2b7d842025-02-09T05:01:44ZengElsevierCarbon Capture Science & Technology2772-65682025-06-0115100380Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologiesSylvanus Lilonfe0Sarah Rodgers1Amir F.N. Abdul-Manan2Ioanna Dimitriou3Jon McKechnie4Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; Corresponding author.Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKLife Cycle Assessment (LCA) group, Research & Development Center (R&DC), Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaFaculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKFaculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKAchieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require the development of cost-effective and CO2-efficient direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove atmospheric CO2. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of five solid sorbents under different technology scenarios to determine the design, operations, cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of DAC technologies. The cost and GHG emissions of the five solid sorbents ranged from $20241,200–40,400/t sorbent and 3.1–12.3 tCO2e/t sorbent in 2024, respectively, mainly driven by the raw materials used for sorbent manufacture. Cost estimates for the best capture technologies ranged from $202497–168/gross tCO2 captured [$2024126–170/net tCO2 captured] in 2025 and can be further reduced to $202487–140/gross tCO2 captured [$202493–142/net tCO2 captured] in 2050. The costs of DAC are heavily influenced by: (i) economic factors (i.e. capital expenses and energy costs), (ii) design elements (i.e. plant scale) and (iii) technical parameters (i.e. sorbent's adsorption rate and time). Conversely, the GHG emissions of DAC are mostly determined by the source of energy. Price signals in existing carbon markets are inadequate to support a DAC project, but a forecasted carbon price increase to $140–240/tCO2 by 2030–2050 could make DAC commercially viable.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277265682500020XDirect air captureSorbentProcess modellingTechno-economic assessmentLife cycle assessmentCarbon capture cost |
| spellingShingle | Sylvanus Lilonfe Sarah Rodgers Amir F.N. Abdul-Manan Ioanna Dimitriou Jon McKechnie Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies Carbon Capture Science & Technology Direct air capture Sorbent Process modelling Techno-economic assessment Life cycle assessment Carbon capture cost |
| title | Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| title_full | Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| title_fullStr | Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| title_short | Technical, economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| title_sort | technical economic and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analyses of solid sorbent direct air capture technologies |
| topic | Direct air capture Sorbent Process modelling Techno-economic assessment Life cycle assessment Carbon capture cost |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277265682500020X |
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