Direct air capture carbon removal is one avenue in the fight against carbon dioxide pollution, and startup RepAir believes its battery-based design could revolutionize the process.   

Most companies use a solvent that must be heated to release carbon dioxide from the air, but RepAir uses electricity to drive the chemical reaction, according to a company profile by TechCrunch. 

This could reduce prices from around $600 per metric ton to potentially as low as $70 to $80 per metric ton, the company explained. (A single U.S. ton is approximately equivalent to .091 metric tons.) 

RepAir CEO Amir Shiner told TechCrunch that its device is "more like a fuel cell but operated more like a battery."

Inside the stackable box design of the machine, there are two porous electrodes divided by a membrane separator. Air or flue gas is drawn into the reaction chamber, where a charged nickel-based electrode and hydroxide await. 

The hydroxide attracts the CO2 and converts it into negatively charged carbonate and bicarbonate ions. These are then drawn through the porous electrode and separator by the opposite electrode's positive charge.

Upon reaching that positively charged electrode, the ions revert to carbon dioxide and hydroxide. The former is drawn off for storage and transport, while the latter is held until it builds up enough to be used in reverse, according to the report. 

The reversibility of RepAir's DAC design is another key factor in separating it from other devices being used to extract planet-heating carbon from the air.

There's less downtime with its electrochemical process, since it doesn't need time to reheat to repeat the cycle. 

"We regenerate while working," Shiner told TechCrunch. 

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Getting below $100 per ton is the golden number for making DAC commercially viable, according to a Forbes report, and if RepAir can reach its projected cost estimates, that could be a breakthrough for the sector.   

Shifting to more sustainable energy-generating resources like solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower to reduce harmful carbon pollution is the preferred approach for many scientists. These methods promise cleaner air and less pollution than burning dirty fuels for energy. 

However, as we push to expand these options, carbon capture stands to mitigate the problem for industries that can't pivot to cleaner methods as quickly as we'd like. 

RepAir's lower operating costs and stackable design (StackDAC, as the company calls it) can help make carbon capture more easily scalable and desirable to industrial clients looking to capture its carbon pollution before it reaches the air. 

The company told TechCrunch that it's currently in talks to develop its technology for use in gas turbines for data centers, which are a growing source of energy consumption and pollution. 

"It's early, but it's something we're working on and we have strong interest coming from that specific area," said Shiner.

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