Amber project could revolutionise aviation and e-fuel industries
Life
Image: Trinity College Dublin
New technology for the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has been deployed at Dublin Airport.
Developed by Prof Wolfgang Schmitt and Dr Sebastien Vaesen from Trinity’s School of Chemistry and materials science research centre Amber, Air in Motion uses the Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to combat climate change by reducing emmissions.
The deployment is the first industrial-scale field test of the technology, which has been operating for three months at Dublin Airport, collecting critical data on efficiency, operational stability, and energy consumption.
Prof Schmitt explained: “Atmospheric carbon capture innovations are crucial because they directly address one of the most pressing challenges we face today – reducing carbon emissions from industries that can’t easily eliminate them at the source. By advancing and integrating this technology across industries, we are not only reducing emissions but also creating economic opportunities through supplying high-purity CO₂ that align with global sustainability goals.
“This technology has the potential to be a cornerstone in the global effort to combat climate change, and the idea that this could contribute to a solution that makes a real difference is incredibly motivating.”
Technical lead Dr Sebastien Vaesen added: “Our technology is designed for industrial deployment, efficiently capturing CO₂ from the air while utilising low-grade waste heat from industries. We have enhanced CO₂ capture efficiency by integrating innovative design features and optimising key operational conditions using our laboratory test rig.
“The deployment at Dublin Airport is a key validation for scaling up and allows us to gather critical performance data in a live operational setting and fine-tune it for long-term sustainable operation. Moreover, we are strongly committed to the technology commercialisation, and this deployment is a major stepping stone.”
The deployment aims to further demonstrate its potential for the aviation and e-fuel industries, directly addressing the European Commission’s ReFuelEU Aviation legislation, which mandates that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) comprise 2% of fuel at EU airports by 2025, increasing to 70% by 2050. Furthermore, it also requires e-fuels, produced from renewable electricity and sustainable CO₂, to constitute 50% of the SAF.
The project is funded by a prestigious European Innovation Council Transition grant and supported by Enterprise Ireland.
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