parallel carbon

[Andrew Lockley]

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Technology

https://www.parallelcarbon.com/tech

Parallel Carbon is developing the world’s most affordable direct air capture (DAC) process, relying only on wind, sunshine, and abundant minerals. Our technology fits seamlessly into a net-zero world, avoids increasing demand for fossil fuel extraction, and operates economically with intermittent renewable power. Importantly, its scalability enables profitable, gigaton-scale carbon removal, improves grid decarbonization economics, and promotes a circular economy. 

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Parallel Carbon’s Direct Air Capture patent pending process is based on mineral looping with subsequent aqueous processing facilitated by electrolysis.

Calcium Hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) particles capture CO2 through ambient carbonation to create solid Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). We then liberate CO2 from carbonates and regenerate our hydroxide capture medium using aqueous, acid-base reactions. Fresh Ca(OH)2 is loaded into trays and racked. Thin granule layers passively carbonate over hours/days. Fully-reacted CaCO3 is recovered and the cycle loops.

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The acids and bases are produced by electrolysis which creates H2 byproducts. We use the H2 onsite to generate power, reducing our external energy demand. For some CO2 storage opportunities we use the H2 to displace fossil fuels used for process heat, effectively combining emissions reduction with carbon removal.

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Our project will utilize CO2 to create infrastructure materials from highly alkaline materials, by-products and wastes. We will also durably store CO2 via underground injection.

 

Through these pathways, we will store more than 2 gigatonnes of CO2 per year from the air by 2040.

    The Solution?    

  Direct Air Carbon Capture  

Decarbonizing the global economy is a long-term problem. So let’s skip forward, let’s look at greenhouse gases in 2030...

At least 2 gigatonnes of CO2 will be subject to carbon prices above  $120/tonne CO2

29% of those 2 gigatonnes will be too expensive to eliminate

Corporates will also demand 1.5-2.0 gigatons of CDR to meet their net zero targets

Demand for carbon offsets is going to outpace supply...

    Current Barriers for a Successful, Affordable DAC Technology    

Direct Air Carbon Capture (DAC) technologies extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere. For DAC to be an effective solution, and not a burden on decarbonization efforts it needs to be designed correctly, meaning it must be scalable, affordable, and fossil fuel independent.

Temperature-, pressure, and electro-swing DAC requires new manufacturing to scale

99.7% of New Carbon Free Energy is Intermittent, but a reliable grid connection creates emissions

Low DAC utilization leads to increased Capex costs, but firm power increases Opex