Norway backing Removr’s efforts to industrialise DAC

Removr, a Norwegian company that develops solutions for removing CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, has received NOK 36.3 million in governmental backing for an industrial-scale pilot.

Norway’s first grant to DAC

The backing was provided in the form of an innovation grant from the Norwegian governmental body Enova, and is Norway’s first grant to DAC. Enova is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment and supports the development of energy and climate technology.

“Even with maximum efforts to reduce emissions, we have already filled the atmosphere with such large amounts of greenhouse gases that the greenhouse effect will continue to warm the globe even if emissions go to net zero. It may be necessary to ensure that carbon is removed from the air. We need actors who go ahead and test solutions. I admire Removr for their initiative which can play an important role in the development of technology for carbon removal,” says Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide (Ap), in a statement to Enova.

Removr’s first industrial pilot at TCM

Removr and it`s technology partner GreenCap Solutions have demonstrated proof of concept through four successful pilots to date. The company follows a stepwise-plan to industrialise DAC and establish market leadership based on its energy-efficient and scalable technology. Removr’s first industrial pilot at TCM will capture 300 tons of CO₂ annually from 2024, it will be followed by the company’s first commercial pilot with a capacity of 2,000 tons per year in 2025 and its first large-scale facility with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year in 2027.

The company now works with a number of partners, including SINTEF, Metier, DNV, Citec and Carbfix on its next facilities while developing a concept for what will be the world’s first million-ton DAC facility based on solid sorbent in 2029.

Removr’s DAC technology involves removing CO₂ directly from the atmosphere. Removr does this by blowing large amounts of air through a zeolite molecular sieve. When the zeolite is saturated with CO₂, it is heated, and the CO₂ gas is released so it can be extracted as a separate CO₂ stream. The technology has been used for decades in the space industry.

“The support from the Norwegian government through Enova sends a clear signal about the importance of our solution as a pioneering project. We are in a hurry and need to scale the right technologies quickly to reach the 1.5 degree target. Norway has extensive experience in carbon capture and can take a leading position in direct air capture of CO₂. Together with TCM, we believe we have an excellent starting point to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere”, says Einar Tyssen, CEO of Removr. 

The uniqueness of Removr’s technology lies in it being water-free, energy-efficient and able to capture CO2 from low concentrations levels, down to atmospheric concentrations. The process runs entirely on renewable electricity and is flexible when it comes to siting.

“We believe Removr will be able to become a central and preferred technology partner for streams with low CO₂ concentrations, both for capture from ambient air and process gas, for example from aluminum works. Enova supports those who go ahead and Removr’s project is very promising in this context”, says marketing director Astrid Lilliestråle at Enova.

First test campaign with DAC at TCM

“We think it is encouraging that Enova has chosen to support Removr to make such a test campaign possible on TCM. Demonstration of technologies and helping to mature them to a level where they can be launched in the market is the purpose of TCM and we can offer unique carbon capture expertise that is globally recognized. This will be our first test campaign with DAC and we look forward to being able to collaborate with yet another technology supplier seeking climate solutions with ground-breaking technology,” says Muhammad Ismail Shah, CEO at TCM.