Climeworks is lending one of its first CO2 collectors to the Science Museum – one of the key objects in the exhibition. Thus, visitors can see closely the technology that Climeworks is already operating in 14 facilities across Europe, with Orca being its 15th and the largest.
By being part of Our Future Planet, Climeworks wants to highlight the importance of technological solutions to remove CO2, which are needed in addition to natural removal solutions and emission reduction if the world wants to get to net-zero emissions.
While planting trees comes with added benefits such as increased biodiversity, it cannot be easily scaled due to its water and surface area requirements and competition with other land uses. Also, since trees store CO2 in their biomass while growing, it cannot always be guaranteed that the CO2 is removed permanently: wildfires or deforestation can destroy forests and release CO2 back into the atmosphere.
Direct air capture is a complementary approach to planting trees: it is highly scalable due to its small physical footprint and removing CO2 via direct air capture is permanent and fully measurable.
By being part of Our Future Planet, Climeworks wants to demonstrate that anyone can play a role in scaling solutions like direct air capture. The company strives to make our solution accessible to everyone by allowing people to join our mission and remove CO2 with their technology, which is showcased in the museum.
Climeworks is grateful for the opportunity to be part of Our Future Planet, as this creates more awareness around technological solutions to climate change.
About the exhibition:
The exhibition showcases different carbon capture solutions and runs from 19 May 2021 to 4 September 2022 in time for the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference COP26, taking place in Glasgow in November.
With its exhibition, the Science Museum creates awareness around the need to actively remove CO2 from the air in addition to reducing current emissions. Both are required to get to net-zero emissions globally.
Our Future Planet features nature-based methods to remove carbon dioxide from the air, such as trees, as well as technological solutions like direct air capture. The exhibition also highlights CO2 storage options, such as the underground mineralization of CO2 or storage beneath the seabed (something the UK and Norway are exploring for the North Sea) as well as possible uses of air-captured CO2. Additionally, systems that capture CO2 directly at the point of emission are discussed. In the final section, visitors will learn how these technologies could impact their lives, from captured carbon being used in toothpaste, yoga mats and even vodka, and inspire them with the ways carbon capture technology can help mitigate climate change.
