Sapping carbon from the air to abate the most stubborn emissions

A new approach to direct air capture of carbon dioxide is being demonstrated at pilot scale – and could help cut emissions for the industries facing the toughest challenges.

Decarbonising electricity is hard. Decarbonising cement, aviation, shipping and heavy industry is harder still.

Even as renewable energy expands rapidly, some emissions remain stubbornly difficult to eliminate.

Cement production releases CO₂ through chemical reactions. Aviation and shipping depend on energy-dense fuels. Heavy transport and industrial heat require high temperatures that electricity alone cannot yet reliably provide at scale.

This is where carbon capture, and particularly direct air capture (DAC), can play a vital role.

Rather than preventing emissions at source, DAC removes carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. When combined with durable storage or utilisation pathways, it delivers a mechanism to offset unavoidable emissions.

For industries facing the toughest emissions abatement challenges, it makes net-zero possible.

In collaboration with MK Collect Pty Ltd (a University of Melbourne spin-off start-up), the Advanced Separation Technology Group at the University of Melbourne, led by Professor Kathryn Mumford, is now advancing a series of breakthroughs that move direct air carbon capture from concept, to demonstrating pilot-scale performance.

“There is a growing recognition that eliminating energy and transport emissions alone won’t be enough to meet global climate targets,” said Prof Mumford, Heavy Industry and Resources program lead, at the Melbourne Energy Institute.

“Even under aggressive decarbonisation scenarios, sectors such as aviation, shipping, heavy freight and energy-intensive manufacturing are expected to retain residual emissions,” she said.

Capturing carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, regardless of where it was originally emitted, can allow industries to offset emissions that are difficult — or currently impossible — to eliminate.

– Professor Kathryn Mumford, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne

Carbon capture may also create new opportunities. Captured high-purity CO₂ can be used in downstream applications such as mineralisation, synthetic fuels and carbon-based materials — potentially transforming a waste product into new value streams, alongside emissions reduction.

Moving from the lab to pilot scale: capturing 99% pure carbon today

The most recent milestone is a fully operational, pilot-scale, DAC unit, with production capacity of 50 tonnes of CO₂ per year, developed and commissioned by Professor Mumford’s team at the University of Melbourne.

And the system is already delivering results: producing carbon dioxide with a purity of up to 99.2% (balance water) directly from ambient air under real operating conditions.

While laboratory advances are important, demonstrating reliable, high-purity CO₂ capture at pilot scale is a critical step toward commercialisation. It shows the technology can move beyond controlled environments and operate consistently in practice.

“This is about translating promising science into something that contributes to solving some of the toughest challenges for a safe climate,” Prof Mumford said.

At the heart of the breakthrough is a redesigned capture process that addresses one of DAC’s most persistent challenges: energy use.

It’s addressed with a scalable, renewable-powered carbon capture system designed for commercial deployment, building on an industry partnership established in 2024, and a series of earlier breakthroughs from the University of Melbourne.

A key breakthrough is combining a non-toxic solvent-based process with low-temperature membrane regeneration, all in a compact, modular design. The lower temperature requirement opens the door to using renewable electricity, waste heat, or other low-carbon energy inputs, significantly improving the system’s overall emissions profile and flexibility.

Compared with conventional high-temperature systems, this approach delivers several advantages including:

• Lower energy demand, reducing operating costs
• Reduced solvent thermal degradation, improving solvent lifespan
• Lower chemical consumption, decreasing ongoing expenses
• Greater compatibility with low-carbon energy sources

The result is a process that is not only cleaner, but more economically realistic.

This technology enables us to see direct air capture from a different perspective. By operating at lower temperatures, the system can be more readily integrated with renewable energy sources, including solar power. It makes a huge difference.

– Professor Kathryn Mumford, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne

Carbon capture that’s modular, deployable and potentially commercial

Beyond chemistry, the system has been engineered with deployment in mind. From a practical and economic perspective.

Its compact, modular and containerised design allows for easier transport, installation and expansion, reducing both upfront capital costs and physical footprint.

Unlike traditional carbon capture systems, which are often tied to large industrial emitters, DAC systems can be located wherever conditions are favourable, particularly where renewable energy and carbon utilisation or storage pathways exist.

This flexibility significantly broadens the potential applications of the technology.

Direct air capture gives us options. It’s not constrained to a single source; it can be deployed where it makes the most environmental and economic sense.

– Professor Kathryn Mumford, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne

Similarly, for carbon capture to play a meaningful role in the energy transition, it must be financially feasible.

Energy consumption is typically the largest cost driver in DAC systems. Reducing it is essential to improving competitiveness.

The University of Melbourne’s pilot system directly targets this challenge, by lowering energy requirements while improving process efficiency.

Early techno-economic analysis suggests a promising trajectory. As the technology scales, it is expected to benefit from economies of scale, improved equipment integration and operational efficiencies.

Together, these factors could significantly reduce the cost per tonne of CO₂ captured.

Part of practical pathway to net zero

Carbon capture will not replace emissions reduction. But increasingly, it is becoming clear that it can complement it. For industries where emissions are hardest to eliminate, DAC offers a flexible, scalable pathway to net zero.

The progression for DAC technologies from lab innovation to pilot-scale demonstration, and next-generation efficiency improvements, signals growing maturity in the technology. And it reveals that the future of carbon capture may not lie in distant megaprojects — but in modular, renewable-powered systems quietly removing carbon from the air, one tonne at a time.

Read more:

• MK Collect website
• "Catalytic hybrid solvent regeneration in membrane vacuum processes for direct air capture", Nature Communications (2026)
• "Renewable-powered carbon capture set to scale", Melbourne Energy Institute (2024)
• "Engineered assembly of water-dispersible nanocatalysts enables low-cost and green CO2 capture", Nature Communications (2022)
• "MEI researchers find cleaner, greener way to remove CO2 from air", Melbourne Energy Institute (2022)

Acknowledgement:
MK Collect Pty Ltd and the University of Melbourne gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Government through the Carbon Capture Technologies Program (CCTP). This funding has played an important role in advancing the development, pilot-scale demonstration, and commercial readiness of innovative DAC technology.

For more information, contact the University of Melbourne’s Professor Kathryn Mumford or the Director of the Melbourne Energy Institute, Professor Richard Sandberg.