CarpeCarbon DAC technology uses clean energy and does not depend on critical raw materials
(sustainabilityenvironment.com) – From Piemonte Italy’s pursuit of direct capture of CO2 from the air starts. The Turin startup CarpeCarbon has been awarded a loan of 1.7 million euros to build the first DAC (Direct Air Capture) technology plant in Italy developed by an Italian company. The only precedent is a pilot plant in Troy, Apulia, launched in 2018 by Switzerland’s Climeworks, one of the pioneers in this field.
The DAC of CarpeCarbon
CarpeCarbon technology circumvents some limits and critical points of direct CO2 capture from the air. “The DAC technologies currently available are extremely energy-intensive and often rely on minerals critical to the production of energy from renewable sources,” explains the startup. “CarpeCarbon’s innovative technology provides a scalable and energy-efficient solution to remove large amounts of CO2 from the air without competing with the energy transition for resources while reducing energy costs”. It uses renewable energy, does not use chemical pollutants or dangerous to health, and its supply chain does not depend on critical raw materials.
The funding obtained will be used to complete the development of DAC technology and make it implementable in the first plant in Piedmont. Resources come from the Tech4Planet initiative of CDP Venture Capital and 360 Capital. In addition, other investors, include the Club Degli Investitori network and the PiemonteNext co-investment fund.
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According to the latest IPCC report, keeping the global temperature around 1.5 degrees is now almost impossible without the use of CO2 capture technologies. As the transition progresses slowly, and therefore the tighter the carbon budget available, the greater the need for technological solutions such as the DAC becomes.
“We strongly believe in this business project that sets ambitious but necessary goals if we want to achieve our climate goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement,” commented CarpeCarbon’s CEO, Giuliano Antoniciello. “One aspect of which I am particularly proud is that our team is young, passionate, and extremely competent, with over 65 years of total advanced training, including masters and doctorates in STEM fields, ranging from carbon capture chemistry to energy engineering”.