Letter on carbon: Chasing down the cost of DAC

Innovation is moving at pace in the direct air capture sector, but will costs fall quickly enough to make it a mainstay of the voluntary carbon market?

Too expensive. That is the verdict on direct air capture (DAC) of sceptics, who struggle to see this energy-intensive technology achieving operating costs low enough to drive its deployment at scale, even with substantial state subsidies. Try telling that to the multiple startups, as well as larger players including US energy firm Occidental and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, which are investing in DAC—not to mention the venture capitalists and tech giants backing the sector.  They point to breakthroughs in areas such as the use of modular systems and new filter materials, as well as increasing scale and a focus on the cheapest sources of power, as factors that are starting to drive down costs signi