Tag: Climeworks

  • UBS works with Climeworks and neustark

    UBS works with Climeworks and neustark

    UBS has entered into a long-term collaboration with Climeworks and neustark . According to the UBS press release , the two cleantech companies are to permanently remove a total of 39,500 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere for the bank. The agreement has a term of 13 years. It is intended to give Climeworks and neustark planning security and make a contribution to UBS's net-zero goal by 2025.

    Both Climeworks and neustark are spin-offs from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich . Both are dedicated to permanently removing CO2 from the air, but with different methods.

    Zurich-based Climeworks is now one of the so-called unicorns with a market capitalization of over CHF 1 billion. The company captures CO2 from the air at its Orca facility in Iceland, powered by renewable energy. It is then stored underground in basalt rock for thousands of years using the Carbfix method. Orca is the largest carbon capture and storage facility in the world.

    Neustark from Bern permanently stores the CO2 extracted from the air in recycled concrete. The concrete granulate enriched in this way allows the cement content in fresh concrete to be reduced and improves its climate balance by around 10 percent. This enables neustark to produce what it says is the most climate-friendly concrete in Switzerland.

    "With this commitment, UBS shows its pioneering role in the area of climate protection and hopefully inspires others to follow this example," said Valentin Gutknecht, co-founder and co-CEO of neustark. "Long-term off-take agreements are an important prerequisite for the much-needed expansion of carbon capture technologies."

  • Climeworks removes CO2 from the air in Iceland

    Climeworks removes CO2 from the air in Iceland

    Climeworks , the Reykjavik energy supplier ON Power and the Icelandic company Carbfix have agreed to combine their technologies for capturing CO2 from the air and for its permanent storage. Climeworks and Carbfix describe these agreements in their respective media releases as “groundbreaking” as well as a “milestone in the fight against climate change” and “turning point in climate protection”: “For the first time, the technologies for a project of this magnitude to remove carbon dioxide from the air combined with each other ”, it says there. The new facility will permanently remove 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year.

    At the site of the third largest geothermal power plant in the world, the Icelandic Hellisheiði, Climeworks is building systems for the separation of CO2 from the air. The Direct Air Capture Technology (DAC) from Climeworks is used for this. The geothermal energy and heat provided by ON Power ensures that DAC technology has a constant supply of renewable energy.

    The Climeworks agreement with Carbfix ensures the safe and permanent storage of carbon dioxide through natural underground mineralization. According to Carbfix , the underground basalt rock formations in Iceland offer ideal conditions for this process.

    "This collaboration with ON and Carbfix is a big step forward," said Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks, in a press release from Climeworks. "We can reach net zero."

    ON Power is “immensely proud of this collaboration” between ON, Carbfix and Climeworks. It shows "how innovative projects can come together to create and expand one of the solutions to global warming". The company is pleased to "support the work of Climework in the future".