Day 322 – A Swiss company, Climeworks, has designed a way to remove the carbon dioxide out of the air. The direct air capture devices capture the carbon dioxide which can then be turned into useful materials. The first plant was opened in Switzerland in 2017. They just opened their fifteenth plant this summer in Iceland.

The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is helping the environment in a few ways. First, by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it is decreasing greenhouse gases which contributes to global warming. Second, the captured carbon can be used for fuels and plastic. This prevents the need for more fossil carbon dioxide.

Another material produced from the captured carbon dioxide is cement.

“Materials made from atmospheric carbon could be transformative for the construction and built environment sector, which together are responsible for an estimated 40 per cent of global emissions.” – Dezeen.com

Since buildings stand for a long time, long term carbon storage is possible.

“Climeworks is not proposing to help decarbonize the global economy; instead, it is proposing to help defossilize it. This means leaving remaining fossil reserves in the ground to prevent new carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere.” – Dezeen.com

It has become very clear that we can not continue at the rate we are going when it comes to carbon emissions. Something needs to happen and it needs to happen now. Waiting another 30 years for countries to commit to zero carbon emissions is 30 years too long. Climeworks hasn’t come up with a solution to global warming, but they have found a key component in fighting the battle against a warming planet.

You can become a Climate Pioneer be helping remove carbon dioxide from the air. Start making your impact today!

Tomorrow, keeping the toilet clean.