Geoengineering: Carbon Capture

Direct air capture (DAC) technology has been in the news a lot recently following the announcement of Elon Musk’s one-hundred million dollar carbon sequestration competition, but how does the technology work?In this episode of Create the Future, we are joined by Nathalie Casas, a chemical engineer and Head of Research and Design at Climeworks, the world leader in carbon dioxide DAC technology.Climeworks’ innovative modular carbon capture technology is powered by renewable energy and has the smallest land and water requirement of all carbon dioxide removal techniques – including afforestation. Though DAC is no silver bullet to the climate problem, we hear how the air-captured CO2 can be permanently stored underground or recycled into climate-friendly products such as renewable fuels, fertiliser, or the bubbles in your favourite soft drink. Nathalie also shares her experiences working for a start-up, imparts advice to budding engineers, and describes her weekend penchant for sailing on Lake Zurich.New episodes of ‘Create the Future: An Engineering Podcast’ every other Tuesday. www.qeprize.org/podcastsFollow @qeprize on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.