In what can be seen as a blueprint for a public-private partnership, the governments of Iceland and Switzerland, together with Zurich-based Climeworks and Carbfix with carbon capture plant in Iceland, have agreed to develop negative emission technologies. Their goal will be removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently burying it underground.
A joint installation with Climeworks’ CO2 air filters and the Carbfix technology for injecting it into rock is slated to launch soon and will become probably the first partnership that involves countries and innovative companies working in the carbon capture field.
Relevant: Carbfix Turns CO2 Into Rock
In the report from Swiss public broader RTS, environmental economics expert Philippe Thalmann shared his opinion that this type of technology will be vital for achieving carbon neutrality in the coming decades.
“We will continue to emit greenhouse gases. Mainly in agriculture, in livestock farming, maybe in aviation, places where it is difficult to eliminate. But in return, we’re going to take CO2 out of the atmosphere,” said Thalmann, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne EPFL.
Relevant: Climeworks to Partner with Northern Lights for Direct Air Carbon Capture
By investing in this carbon capture project in Iceland, the Swiss government will receive carbon credits and achieve its net zero goals. A recent referendum saw Swiss voters reject a proposed new climate law, that would have cut emission, but the government seems intent on acting on the issue.
The agreement can be seen as high-level endorsement of a technology that has seen some flak lately. Climate change deniers see it as expensive and unnecessary, but ironically some climate activists also have a negative opinion of carbon capture. They see carbon’s removal and sequestration as a distraction from reducing carbon emissions in general, which they think is paramount. Regardless, private carbon capture marketplaces seem to be multiplying, as well the rapid adoption and of carbon taxes and credits across the globe.
