Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale • Hacker News Board

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#21

Post by markcyffka » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:27 PM UTC

nagar1 wrote: post #10

why cant we use filter at the point of production and collect them as separate garbage ?

Great question. Point source capture & removal/conversion solutions from flue emissions are desperately needed, as are tech/policy solutions to help eliminate emissions to begin with!

For now, we are focusing on CO2 removal from air to align with market/"extreme user" angles, as described in some comments above.

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#22

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

markcyffka wrote: post #12

boringg wrote: post #6

Whats the energy cost per ton of CO2 removed?

Right now, it's >5MWh/ton using lab scale equipment. At 1 million ton per year scale, we expect closer to 1-2MWh/ton.

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#23

Post by sabertoothed » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:31 PM UTC

I would love to see a page on your website where you compare yourselves (in a fair and transparent way) to the best plant that does the same thing. I am not knowledgeable in the field. But there will be some algae or mangroves that get CO2 out of the air.

I would love to see that comparison. Incl. the aspect that the plant does not need to be repaired, multiplies on its own, etc.

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#24

Post by hannob » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:33 PM UTC

Do you have any policy regarding collaboration with the fossil fuel industry?

(I'm asking because most past carbon capture projects are actually enhanced oil recovery projects, and the accounting they do for co2 avoided is... sometimes really creative. From what I'm aware Climeworks is not directly collaborating with the fossil fuel industry and does not do EOR, which I think is why they have a relatively good reputation.)

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#25

Post by azinman2 » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:35 PM UTC

Given the dilution problem, I’ve been wondering if a decentralized approach is ultimately better. Can we build some cheap system that people could just simply put on top of their homes and let the wind do the movement? Individually each system would remove little, but if enough participants were involved (perhaps it’s even government mandated to have), then the costs would be shared as would be the scale.

Would love thoughts.

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#26

Post by markcyffka » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

_fizz_buzz_ wrote: post #14

> After energy is applied, CO2 is desorbed from the substrate for downstream treatment and compression. Is this the most energy intensive part of the process? What kind of energy do you apply? (heat?)

You are absolutely correct that desorption is the energy-intensive step in many CO2 capture systems that have been publicly proposed. I can't get into the specifics, but keeping the desorption energy as low as possible is a major focus of our time/efforts as we design & scale our process.

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#27

Post by atultw » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:39 PM UTC

This looks promising, best of luck.

A lot of technologies to solve waste problems have been invented and launched, but very few get used at a large scale.

Some questions:

What do you see as the biggest roadblocks to adoption of your product? What makes AirMyne more attractive than the existing options? https://time.com/6125303/direct-air-carbon-capture-infrastru...

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#28

Post by chinathrow » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

Whats the difference in your method to the one used by Climeworks?

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#29

Post by InvaderFizz » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

sabertoothed wrote: post #23

I would love to see a page on your website where you compare yourselves (in a fair and transparent way) to the best plant that does the same thing. I am not knowledgeable in the field. But there will be some algae or mangroves that get CO2 out of the air. I would love to see that comparison. Incl. the aspect that the plant does not need to be repaired, multiplies on its own, etc.

The problem with plant based sequestration is that it is a net neutral proposition unless you can bury the plants. All the talk about forests being so great(and they are, just not as carbon sinks) ignores the complete lifecycle, which is only as negative as the sustained volume of the forest, assuming you started from just dirt. If that forest ever burns, it's all back in the atmosphere again.

Re: Launch HN: AirMyne (YC W22) – Capturing CO2 from air at industrial scale

#30

Post by gameswithgo » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 4:44 PM UTC

azinman2 wrote: post #25

Given the dilution problem, I’ve been wondering if a decentralized approach is ultimately better. Can we build some cheap system that people could just simply put on top of their homes and let the wind do the movement? Individually each system would remove little, but if enough participants were involved (perhaps it’s even government mandated to have), then the costs would be shared as would be the scale. Would love…

This would be equivalent to trees, where you then store the tree forever before it dies, and even assuming you can plant and then store those trees using 0 energy it really doesn't make much of a dent.