Is Direct Air Capture the Future of Negative Emissions?

With climate change gathering pace, the world is seeing a growing number of heatwaves, storms and other extreme weather.

Though reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the expansion of renewable energy, electrification and energy efficiency will be crucial, climate science is becoming more firm on one underlying fact: lowering emissions isn’t enough.

In addition to adding avoidance of new emissions, we also need to reduce carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, if we are going to hit global climate targets and stabilize temperatures. That’s where Direct Air Capture (DAC) comes into the conversation as an aspirational though still developing approach to negative emissions.

What Is Direct Air Capture?

Direct Air Capture is a group of technologies for pulling carbon dioxide out of the air through chemical processes. Air is flowed over solvents in liquid form or sorbents in solid form, which selectively combine the CO₂ leaving the remaining gases free.

When captured, heat or electricity is used to extract the CO₂ and the materials are ready to be reused. That captured carbon dioxide can then be sequestered permanently underground, in geologic formations where it mineralizes over time, or used to make products like synthetic fuels or concrete.

But from a climate perspective, permanent storage is far better compared to most CO₂-based products, which end up releasing carbon back into the atmosphere.

Why DAC Is Important for Climate Goals?

Removing carbon is necessary for dealing with emissions hard or impossible to erase from the likes of aviation, heavy industry and agriculture. DAC is especially appealing, because it is well characterized, possibly scalable and location independent.

Unlike reforestation and other “nature-based solutions,” DAC does not use arable land indeed, it can be sited near clean energy supplies and geological storage locations.

And according to climate models, we need billions of tons of carbon dioxide removal a year. Direct air capture is now widely recognized as a key part of an overall carbon removal portfolio. In this segment, C3S is playing an active role.

Current State of DAC Deployment

DAC has gained significant interest and investment over the last decade. As of 2025, there are hundreds of Direct Air Capture companies active around the world, dozens of plants in operation, and many more under development.

Experimental sites in Iceland, the United States and several African countries are pioneering DAC at increasingly large scales; they are currently capturing tens of thousands and soon hundreds of thousands tonnes a year of CO₂.

Government backing has been a major driver especially in the U.S. through tax credits, infrastructure support and research programs. Titled other nations, such as Canada, Japan, and members of the European Union are also rolling out policies to support carbon removal technologies.

And private sector demand is on the rise, with big companies buying long-term carbon removal credits to offset net-zero commitments.

Challenges and Concerns in Direct Air Capture

Despite its promises, DAC has several hurdles. The most significant is cost. Removing CO₂ from the air requires a lot of energy, which makes DAC more expensive than many nature-based solutions.

The cost of DAC varies widely. Right now it costs several hundred dollars per tonne, although companies think they can bring this down by an order of magnitude over time through innovation and scaling.

Energy use is another concern. If DAC is to provide real climate benefits, it needs to be driven by low or zero-carbon sources of power. Rollout on a large scale would mean increased renewable power capacity, perhaps competing with other electrification requirements.

There are also social and environmental concerns. Extra concerns in the community siting of DAC facilities could include issues relating to land space, water use, transport of CO₂ and long-term storage safety. Although these will be important in responsible deployment, strong regulation and close engagement with communities will also be necessary.

So, Is DAC the Key to Negative Emissions?

Direct Air Capture is not a solution to everything and should never replace aggressive emissions reductions. As part of a diversified climate strategy, however, DAC is a powerful means for taking carbon dioxide out at scale, especially to offset residual emissions.

With more investment, policy support, and wise governance, direct air capture has the potential to make a meaningful contribution on the path to net-zero and net-negative emissions. One solution is unlikely to have a monopoly on the future of climate action; instead, technologies like DAC are likely one piece in an overall, balanced portfolio of responsible climate solutions.