Last week the @TerraformIndies CO2 team successfully produced a high purity (>99%) stream of CO2 from our demo calciner, at our Muroc desert test site, in 110 F heat, using our own captive solar PV array, on the first try. This represents several firsts, and is an incredible testament to the team's brilliance and grit, led by @steph_a_coronel. We closed on the land in January. By the end of March, all the solar panels (nearly 3000!) were in. A lot of cable work and inspections followed. Earlier this month, the word came through from the solar team: we're ready to go live. I directed each of the three power customer teams (DAC CO2, electrolyzer H2, and reactor) to fab and deploy a meaningful end-to-end "smoke test". I knew the desert would test our faith and that our team needed to experience the dust, the heat, and the wind in order to streamline logistics for the full deployment later this year. DAC was first off the mark. I was fortunate to find a corner of the tent where I was out of the way as we turned on the calciner for the first time, on site. Without drama the array pumped about 30 kW into the test fixture and the temperature rose smoothly to over 1000 C. Soon after that, the team proceeded to <redacted> and CO2 came out. At the end of the test, we had calcined >85% of the carbonate we started with, exceeding our requirements and validating our design, architecture, and processes. The Terraform CO2 production system captures CO2 from the air (400 ppm) and concentrates it to >99% purity in a single step, feeding directly into a hydrocarbon synthesis reactor which produces methane or methanol. The overarching challenge of Terraform's approach is to produce CO2 cheaply enough that it becomes profit center rather than a cost center. Our strategy of direct consumption of solar power from the array cuts capex and opex to the barest minimum, and our internal production cost, even at this relatively early stage, is already well below $200/T-CO2. Other than plants and some cyanobacteria, I believe this is the first ever commercially useful capture and production of CO2 at scale. Stay tuned!
Terraform Industries Produces Over 99% Pure CO2 From Air Using Solar Power
Many users congratulated Terraform Industries on its solar-powered production of over 99% pure CO2 from air, praising the milestone and visible solar design, while a few objected that it amounts to creating pollution.
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@CJHandmer @servomechanica @TerraformIndies What does $200/T-CO2 mean in terms of the gas price / GJ?
@JayBigGuy10 @CJHandmer @servomechanica @TerraformIndies Roughly 50 kg CO2 emitted per GJ natural gas. So 20GJ will produce 1 tonne of CO2 ($200 in this case). If NG is $3/GJ, its a tough sell. But European prices of NG can be 5 times higher than US.
@speltbeans @CJHandmer @ATabarrok @TerraformIndies They took it out of the air you dingus
@CJHandmer @ATabarrok @TerraformIndies You produced pollution. How is that incredible?
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies congratulations :) what a cool milestone. love the solar panels on the ground
"Other than plants and some cyanobacteria, I believe this is the first ever commercially useful capture and production of CO2 at scale." 👏
Last week the @TerraformIndies CO2 team successfully produced a high purity (>99%) stream of CO2 from our demo calciner, at our Muroc desert test site, in 110 F heat, using our own captive solar PV array, on the first try. This represents several firsts, and is an incredible testament to the team's brilliance and grit, led by @steph_a_coronel. We closed on the land in January. By the end of March, all the solar panels (nearly 3000!) were in. A lot of cable work and inspections followed. Earlier this month, the word came through from the solar team: we're ready to go live. I directed each of the three power customer teams (DAC CO2, electrolyzer H2, and reactor) to fab and deploy a meaningful end-to-end "smoke test". I knew the desert would test our faith and that our team needed to experience the dust, the heat, and the wind in order to streamline logistics for the full deployment later this year. DAC was first off the mark. I was fortunate to find a corner of the tent where I was out of the way as we turned on the calciner for the first time, on site. Without drama the array pumped about 30 kW into the test fixture and the temperature rose smoothly to over 1000 C. Soon after that, the team proceeded to <redacted> and CO2 came out. At the end of the test, we had calcined >85% of the carbonate we started with, exceeding our requirements and validating our design, architecture, and processes. The Terraform CO2 production system captures CO2 from the air (400 ppm) and concentrates it to >99% purity in a single step, feeding directly into a hydrocarbon synthesis reactor which produces methane or methanol. The overarching challenge of Terraform's approach is to produce CO2 cheaply enough that it becomes profit center rather than a cost center. Our strategy of direct consumption of solar power from the array cuts capex and opex to the barest minimum, and our internal production cost, even at this relatively early stage, is already well below $200/T-CO2. Other than plants and some cyanobacteria, I believe this is the first ever commercially useful capture and production of CO2 at scale. Stay tuned!
@boulatbek @CJHandmer @TerraformIndies 1: they're not producing CO2, but rather removing it from the atmosphere. This is a good thing. 2: it's being used to produce methanol, which in this case would be a clean fuel.
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies Congrats you guys!!!!
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies People all over the globe worked hard to put that CO2 into the atmosphere. Now you're just going to take it, for free? /s
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies This sounds awesome. but honestly I'm so unfamiliar with this area you lost me at "calciner". but now after scratching my head I think you're saying something like "We have used sunlight to pull CO₂ out of the air, a key step toward making cheap, green methanol."? awesome!
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies Godspeed. I always believed you would make since I read early Blog posts years ago. Wish I could invest capital or labor!
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies In need of robotic welding?
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies Solar-powered CO2 wizardry in the desert? That’s hotter than my morning coffee and way cooler than my thermostat.
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies Super! Blue the desert!
@CJHandmer @TerraformIndies Why produce co2? Is it not something others aim to minimize?