Carbon dioxide extraction from air: Is it an option?

Controlling the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere without limiting access to fossil energy resources is only possible if carbon dioxide is collected and disposed of away from the atmosphere. While it may be cost-advantageous to collect the carbon dioxide at concentrated sources without ever letting it enter the atmosphere, this approach is not available for the many diffuse sources of carbon dioxide. Similarly, for many older plants a retrofit to collect the carbon dioxide is either impossible or prohibitively expensive. For these cases we investigate the possibility of collecting the carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. We conclude that there are no fundamental obstacles to this approach and that it deserves further investigation. Carbon dioxide extraction directly from atmosphere would allow carbon management without the need for a completely changed infrastructure. In addition it eliminates the need for a complex carbon dioxide transportation infrastructure, thus at least in part offsetting the higher cost of the extraction from air.