A team of scientists at Arizona State University have developed technology similar to a 'mechanical tree' that could be built in forests to capture CO2 emissions.
The structures use a commercial-scale passive Direct Air Capture system which is designed to capture approximately 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every day.
A Dublin based company, Carbon Collect, intend to put this technology on the market. These vertical towers could be built in batches to create effectively mechanical forests to capture CO2 more efficiently.
The team that designed the technology have said that unlike other carbon capture technologies, these vertical columns of discs, each about five feet in diameter, remove carbon dioxide without needing to draw air through the system using energy-intensive devices. They simply capture carbon as the wind blows air through the system from any direction.
Carbon Collect Chief Executive Officer Pól Ó Móráin said: “We expect this project to be an important step for the commercialisation of a technology that can be scaled to help balance the world’s carbon budget.”
