Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity
The widespread deployment of direct air capture is impeded by technology and scalability challenges, particularly resulting from high capital costs and energy demands. This paper posits that it is not possible to effectively evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of direct air capture witho...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Energy Conversion and Management: X |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000538 |
| _version_ | 1818486812569501696 |
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| author | Udayan Singh Lisa M. Colosi |
| author_facet | Udayan Singh Lisa M. Colosi |
| author_sort | Udayan Singh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The widespread deployment of direct air capture is impeded by technology and scalability challenges, particularly resulting from high capital costs and energy demands. This paper posits that it is not possible to effectively evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of direct air capture without accounting for the spatial and temporal contexts in which it will be operated. Accordingly, the analysis aims to evaluate the near-term and medium-term (2030–50) potential of using excess renewable energy to power flexible deployment of direct air capture in California. Current systems would be able to sequester almost 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, an important benchmark target. For future systems, increased solar photovoltaic penetration could lead to potential carbon sequestration of 20–140 million tonnes during 2030–50. The environmental efficacy of excess electricity powered direct air capture is also estimated, which exhibits lower upstream energy consumption and net greenhouse gas emissions compared to the average range of carbon dioxide removal technologies. In terms of economic performance, the studied system is appealing across a wide range of capacity factors, thus showing large operational flexibility. Beyond this, the current study discusses a more fundamental premise, which is that different carbon dioxide removal approaches are uniquely suitable for different contexts that should be explicitly accounted for when evaluating their anticipated costs, benefits, and potential. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:28:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75c6231a048f4d43b3f205b86db28a54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:28:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energy Conversion and Management: X |
| spelling | doaj.art-75c6231a048f4d43b3f205b86db28a542022-12-22T01:41:37ZengElsevierEnergy Conversion and Management: X2590-17452022-08-0115100230Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricityUdayan Singh0Lisa M. Colosi1Department of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USACorresponding author.; Department of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USAThe widespread deployment of direct air capture is impeded by technology and scalability challenges, particularly resulting from high capital costs and energy demands. This paper posits that it is not possible to effectively evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of direct air capture without accounting for the spatial and temporal contexts in which it will be operated. Accordingly, the analysis aims to evaluate the near-term and medium-term (2030–50) potential of using excess renewable energy to power flexible deployment of direct air capture in California. Current systems would be able to sequester almost 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, an important benchmark target. For future systems, increased solar photovoltaic penetration could lead to potential carbon sequestration of 20–140 million tonnes during 2030–50. The environmental efficacy of excess electricity powered direct air capture is also estimated, which exhibits lower upstream energy consumption and net greenhouse gas emissions compared to the average range of carbon dioxide removal technologies. In terms of economic performance, the studied system is appealing across a wide range of capacity factors, thus showing large operational flexibility. Beyond this, the current study discusses a more fundamental premise, which is that different carbon dioxide removal approaches are uniquely suitable for different contexts that should be explicitly accounted for when evaluating their anticipated costs, benefits, and potential.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000538Direct air captureCarbon dioxide removalSolar PVExcess renewable electricityCurtailment |
| spellingShingle | Udayan Singh Lisa M. Colosi Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity Energy Conversion and Management: X Direct air capture Carbon dioxide removal Solar PV Excess renewable electricity Curtailment |
| title | Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| title_full | Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| title_fullStr | Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| title_short | Capture or curtail: The potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| title_sort | capture or curtail the potential and performance of direct air capture powered through excess renewable electricity |
| topic | Direct air capture Carbon dioxide removal Solar PV Excess renewable electricity Curtailment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174522000538 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT udayansingh captureorcurtailthepotentialandperformanceofdirectaircapturepoweredthroughexcessrenewableelectricity AT lisamcolosi captureorcurtailthepotentialandperformanceofdirectaircapturepoweredthroughexcessrenewableelectricity |