Direct Air Capture

Direct air capture (DAC) involves scrubbing CO2 from ambient air for underground storage or use in products, requiring low-carbon energy to achieve net carbon removal. The document argues that the U.S. could plausibly remove over 1 gigaton of CO2 by midcentury if commercial deployment begins by 2025 with 20–30 percent annual growth. Achieving this requires a dual policy approach: approximately $150 million in annual public funding for R&D and demonstration over the next decade, and amendments to the 45Q tax credit to incentivize private investment, with estimated tax expenditures rising from $360 million per year by 2025 to $1.3 billion by 2030.

• Direct air capture (DAC) can remove CO2 from the air for permanent underground storage in geologic formations or for use in building materials, chemicals, fuels, and enhanced oil recovery. To ensure net carbon removal, the process must utilize low-carbon energy and long-term storage.
• The United States could potentially achieve more than 1 gigaton of CO2 removal by midcentury, provided that commercial-scale deployment starts in 2025 and maintains an annual growth rate of 20–30 percent, which is similar to the historical growth of solar energy.
• Costs for current DAC technology could potentially drop to $100 per ton of CO2 removed through 'learning by doing,' though this requires extended testing under real environmental conditions.
• Scaling DAC requires an average of $150 million per year in public funding over the next decade for basic and applied research, pilot testing, and demonstration, primarily through the Department of Energy.
• Private sector scaling depends on amending the 45Q tax credit by increasing the credit value for DAC, lowering the minimum capture threshold, and extending the construction deadline. Estimated annual tax expenditures would need to be $360 million by 2025 and $1.3 billion by 2030.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Direct Air Capture. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-direct-air-capture.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Direct Air Capture. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-direct-air-capture.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Direct Air Capture |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-direct-air-capture.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutenddirect, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Direct Air Capture}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-direct-air-capture.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }