At the Farnborough Airshow on Monday, Airbus headed up an assembly of major airlines in announcing a potential investment in direct air carbon capture technology through the purchase of carbon removal credits. The Letter of Intent was signed by Air Canada, Air France-KLM, the International Airline Group (IAG), the Lufthansa Group, LATAM Airlines Group, easyJet, and Virgin Atlantic.

Is DACC the next big step in aviation sustainability?

The announcement marks a significant milestone for airlines making a substantial contribution toward carbon capture technology as a means of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. As these credits are non sector specific, they could first and foremost be labeled as a form of (expensive) carbon offsetting, making up for emissions that are unavoidable during operations. The technology could also provide CO2 for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced through electrolysis, and contribute to decarbonization in that way.

However, as we will discuss later in this article, direct air carbon capture technology (DACC) will most likely prove essential in the long term if we are to prevent disastrous climate change. It is still in its infancy and, as such, needs all the support it can get, so commitments like the one championed by Airbus will be pivotal to its wider deployment.

DACC is developed to lower the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Photo: Airbus

Julie Kitcher, Executive Vice President Communications and Corporate Affairs, Airbus, commented on Monday's announcement,

“We are already seeing strong interest from airlines to explore affordable and scalable carbon removals. These first letters of intent mark a concrete step towards the use of this promising technology for both Airbus’ own decarbonisation plan and the aviation sector’s ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

As part of the agreements, the above-mentioned airlines have committed to engage in "negotiations on the possible pre-purchase" (yes, there are still a lot of hypotheticals, but it is a start) of "verified and durable" carbon removal credits starting in 2025 through to 2028.

1PointFive

The credits will be issued by 1PointFive – a subsidiary of Occidental’s Low Carbon Ventures business and the global deployment partner of direct air capture company Carbon Engineering. Airbus has already entered a partnership with 1PointFive since March this year for the pre-purchase of 400,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits over the course of four years.

1PointFive intends to build the first US industrial size direct air capture plant. It will permanently sequester, or store, one million tons of CO2 per year. That is the equivalent of the CO2 mitigating effects of 40 million trees. Construction of the facility is set to begin by the end of the year, and it will become operational by 2024.

1PointFive's President and General Manager, Steve Kelly, shared the following during the official announcement at Farnborough Airshow,

"We're very pleased that Airbus has agreed to pre-purchase up to 400,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits over four years with an option to secure more in the future. These credits will be taken from our first direct air capture facility, and it's gratifying to see the airlines here today embracing technologies like direct air capture to achieve their emissions' reduction targets. We need more companies across all industries to focus not only on reducing their emissions, but eliminating them from the atmosphere so we can achieve the goals established in the Paris Agreement."

Before today's announcement, the only airline to have actively invested in carbon capture technology was United Airlines. In 2020, the carrier also invested in 1PointFive. At the time, Scott Kirby, United's CEO, stated that it would correspond to offsetting nearly 10% of United’s annual emissions.

Providing feedstock for sustainable fuels

Fatima da Gloria de Sousa, Vice President of Sustainability at Air France-KLM, commented on the intended investment,

"In addition to CO2 capture and storage, the technology opens up very interesting perspectives for the production of synthetic sustainable aviation fuel. The letter of intent we are signing with Airbus today embodies the collaborative approach the aviation industry has initiated to find effective solutions that meet the challenge of our environmental transition. Only together can we address the climate emergency."

The CO2 captured could be used to produce SAF. Photo: Pratt & Whitney 

Indeed, the CO2 captured through DACC can be used together with green hydrogen and renewable electricity for the production of so-called e-fuels, a form of sustainable aviation fuel produced through electrolysis. And 1PointFive has plans for such a facility, which is to be built in Canada, producing what the company and its partner Carbon Engineering is calling "Air to Fuels".

While this has the potential of creating a circular and sustainable fuel ecosystem for aviation, it is also essential that the storage part of the technology comes into play, as we shall see in a bit.

Juan José Tohá, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, LATAM Airlines Group, also believes in DACC's potential contribution to the sustainable fuels of tomorrow. He offered his sentiments on his operator's intended purchase of carbon capture credits,

“DACCS represents an innovative way not only to remove net carbon from the atmosphere, but it also has the potential to play a part in the development of synthetic sustainable aviation fuels. There is no silver bullet for decarbonising the industry and we will rely on a combination of measures to reach our net-zero ambitions, including greater efficiencies, sustainable aviation fuels and new technologies, supported by the conservation of strategic ecosystems and quality offsets.”

 Photo: Getty Images.

Offsetting necessary part of 2050 target

According to the Air Transport Action Group’s (ATAG) Waypoint 2050 report, the aviation industry will need carbon offsets - mainly carbon capture - to make up for emissions that cannot be reduced by other means to reach its net-zero by 2050 goal. According to estimates, they will need to comprise between 6% and 8% of the overall target.

Virgin Atlantic's Vice President for Corporate Development, Holly Boyd-Boland, shared the following statement,

"Alongside our fleet transformation programme, fuel-efficient operations and supporting the commercial scalability of sustainable aviation fuels, the removal of CO2 directly from the atmosphere through innovative carbon capture and storage technologies becomes a powerful tool in reaching our target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We look forward to partnering with Airbus and 1PointFive to accelerate the development of Direct Air Carbon Capture and Permanent Storage solutions alongside our industry peers.”

Nascent technology with huge potential

Meanwhile, Teresa Ehman, Senior Director of Environmental Affairs at Air Canada, also commented on the commitment,

“Air Canada is proud to support the early adoption of direct air capture and storage as we and the aviation industry move forward on the path to decarbonisation. While we are in the early days of a long journey and much remains to be done, this technology is one of the many important levers that will be needed, along with many others, including sustainable aviation fuel and increasingly efficient and new technology aircraft, to decarbonise the aviation industry.”

UK budget carrier easyJet has made itself known for its broad approach to sustainable technology investments, including hydrogen technology, sustainable aviation fuel, recycled cabin crew uniforms and sustainable aviation fuel. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the airline wants to get in on the DACC action. Jane Ashton, easyJet’s Director of Sustainability, said,

“Direct air capture is a nascent technology with a huge potential, so we are very pleased to be part of this important initiative. We believe that carbon removal solutions will be an essential element of our pathway to net zero, complementing other components and helping us to neutralise any residual emissions in the future.”

Why carbon capture matters - beyond e-fuels

As a planet, we have already committed to at least 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. Even if we were to stop emitting CO2 today, the CO2 we have already put in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution would keep heating the system. This means that direct air carbon capture, where CO2 is extracted from the atmosphere and then stored away (one of the main challenges with the technology, but that is a problem for a different time), will be essential if we are to avoid drastically life-altering climate change.

Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, likens it to how you cannot just take your foot off the gas and expect a great ocean liner to come to a halt. There is already momentum (in this case heat) 'baked' into the system. The question is if DACC can develop fast enough to halt the heating before we reach a point-of-no-return.