The world’s first CO2 capture facility using wind power

The Concho facility aims to remove 500,000 tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year and store it underground, helping to combat climate change.

Concho, the world’s first wind-powered direct air capture (DAC) facility, will be built in Tom Green County, Texas, as reported by Interesting Engineering on November 22.

Simulation of a wind-powered direct CO₂ capture facility. (Photo: Return Carbon).

The facility utilizes direct air capture (DAC) technology, which allows for the extraction of CO₂ directly from the surrounding air, thereby reducing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere. This method can help combat climate change and slow down the process of global warming.

Unlike other carbon capture methods that must be applied at the source of emissions, DAC can be deployed anywhere, even in non-arable land. However, due to the much lower concentration of CO₂ in the air, this technology requires more energy and also increases costs. To address this issue, the Concho project is testing the implementation of DAC powered by low-cost energy from a wind farm.

Concho is a collaborative project between Return Carbon and Verified Carbon, two companies involved in the clean energy transition in the Netherlands and the United States. The project will utilize DAC equipment from Skytree Stratus, a spin-off company of the European Space Agency (ESA). Skytree Stratus’s patented equipment is highly modular and can be installed at any scale, with the ability to upgrade on-site as the capture materials evolve over time. The entire capture facility will draw energy from a nearby wind farm constructed and operated by Greenalia.

In its initial phase, Concho aims to remove 50,000 tons of CO₂ each year by 2030. However, with plans for expansion, the project could potentially remove 500,000 tons of CO₂ annually from the atmosphere. The extracted CO₂ will be stored underground. The project will also generate carbon credits for sale in the market.

This world’s first wind-powered carbon capture project benefits both clean energy producers and DAC technology. DAC ensures energy consumption from the wind farm and receives low-cost power. Meanwhile, carbon credits contribute to a greener future.

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