Carbon removal takes a Mammoth leap

The world’s largest direct air capture plant will soon start removing planet-warming pollution from the atmosphere — a significant step for a once-sci-fi technology that could hold a key to taking on climate change.

But while the so-called Mammoth plant in Iceland is unprecedented in scale, it is small compared with what would be needed to walk humanity back from the climate ledge.

The plant will use fans, filters, piping and geothermal energy to permanently remove up to 36,000 metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year, writes Corbin Hiar.

That’s less than 1 percent of the annual emissions of a typical coal-fired power plant. More than 200 coal plants were operating in the U.S. as of 2022.

Still, the opening is a significant development for an industry that scientists agree will likely be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals to limit global warming.

Mammoth also isn’t the only new kid on the block.

The direct air capture company Holocene is launching its first industrial-scale pilot facility Wednesday in Knoxville, Tennessee. In West Texas, Occidental Petroleum is building a direct air capture plant designed to remove up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Occidental is part of a group selected by the Energy Department to develop two direct air capture hubs — one in southern Texas, the other in southeastern Louisiana — capable of removing 1 million metric tons of carbon per year.

Experts say removing carbon — potentially billions of metric tons per year — may be required to limit global warming to the increasingly out-of-reach goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius and stave off the worst climate impacts.

But such estimates assume steep global cuts in fossil fuel production. Instead, the world is burning record amounts of coal and oil.

Many climate hawks also remain skeptical of the direct carbon capture industry, given oil companies’ dominant role in the burgeoning sector. They worry that oil and gas producers will use direct air capture to justify continued production of the fossil fuels driving the global temperature rise.

That fear is not unfounded. Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub recently told an industry gathering that the technology “gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years.”

It’s Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO’s Power Switch. I’m your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected].

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Ben Lefebvre breaks down the potential political ramifications of the Federal Trade Commission’s allegation that the head of one of the top oil producers in the United States tried to collude with OPEC to boost oil prices.

Power Centers

One House Republican’s EV conundrum
Republican Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia has a lot of nice things to say about electric vehicles, but he is critical of policies that seek to increase their sales, writes Nico Portuondo.

He is one of several Republican lawmakers whose districts are benefiting from an fusion of federal EV dollars. But Carter doesn’t see any problem with loving the cars while hating the rules that boost their sales.

EPA insider turned watchdog retires
Eric Schaeffer stunned Washington and created a media firestorm when he resigned from his senior Environmental Protection Agency job in protest in 2002, writes Robin Bravender.

Schaeffer, who went on to launch an environmental watchdog group after his EPA exit, is retiring this month after more than 20 years leading the Environmental Integrity Project.

World Bank’s new climate plan
Cows and milk are out, chicken and broccoli are in — if the World Bank has its way, that is, writes Federica Di Sario.

In a new paper, the international bank argues that raising the price of carbon-intensive products like red meat and dairy while lowering the cost of poultry, fruits and vegetables is the most cost-effective way to fight climate change.

In Other News

Polling: President Joe Biden brags about his environmental record to win young voters, but most have no idea what he’s done to fight climate change.

Road trippers: Why Highway 1 is the climate challenge that California can’t fix.

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U.S. clean power installations rose 28 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 5.6 gigawatts, with roughly a third of those projects built in Texas.

Vermont’s proposal to hold oil companies liable for climate damages is on track to become law, setting up a legal battle between a small state and some of the world’s biggest companies.

The White House has requested to meet with miners and graphite producers irked by new the Biden administration’s rollout of electric vehicle tax credits.

That’s it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.