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Bubbling breakthrough
5 April, 2024
Could drinking Coca-Cola help save the planet? Maybe. Coca-Cola has teamed up with Airhive, a direct air capture (DAC) company, to pilot an ambitious new carbon capture programme which replaces fossil fuel-derived CO2 bubbles with CO2 plucked straight from the air.
Airhive has developed a low-cost, energy efficient DAC system. By harnessing existing technology which has already proven effective for industrial applications such as mineral processing and drying of foods and medicine, Airhive massively cuts costs associated with developing and deploying DAC while ensuring rapid scalability.
The pilot with Coca-Cola will have a 1,000-tonne CO2 capture capability, which can be used in place of CO2 bubbles derived from fossil fuels. However, while this new step by Coca-Cola may feel like something from a Sci-Fi film, it won’t be enough to counteract the 65 million tonnes of CO2 it releases each year.
While Airhive claims the success of similar technologies in various industries underscores its scalability, along with its potential to cut emissions and generate jobs, critics from the World Resources Institute and MIT express concerns about DAC, highlighting significant obstacles that must be overcome to fulfil global demand, including high energy requirements and the extensive land and water requirements.
Airhive and carbon capture bubbles may still have a lot to prove but they offer a glimmer of hope. We hope you are reminded of the power of innovation and collaboration next time you take a sip from your carbonated drink of choice.
By Nia Vines