Mission Zero Technologies turns on UK’s first direct air capture plant with University of Sheffield

Mission Zero Technologies’ DAC technology sits inside a 20-foot shipping container for easy mobility and modular scaling, so that it can be deployed around the world. This small footprint allows it to be easily incorporated into a customer’s site—and moved at a later point, if need be. (Photo: Business Wire)

Mission Zero Technologies, a developer of carbon-removal technologies, has turned on the U.K.’s first direct air capture (DAC) plant, which efficiently removes CO2 from the atmosphere using renewable energy and water.

The plant was bought by the University of Sheffield’s Translational Energy Research Centre for a first-of-a-kind U.K. project validating sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from air to decarbonize U.K. aviation.

The plant is one of two commercially financed DAC systems in the world, establishing the U.K. as a frontrunner within the burgeoning global DAC industry.

DAC is globally recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a critical technology for humanity to meet its 1.5-degree Celsius obligations.

The plant at a glance

Self-described as being “on a mission to reinvent the world’s relationship with carbon,” Mission Zero Technologies deployed its first commercially financed DAC system in the U.K. seven months after signing the contract.

The plant was sold to the University of Sheffield’s TERC, a world-leading zero-carbon energy research institution.

TERC will use Mission Zero Technologies’ technology to validate the end-to-end production of jet fuel made from atmospheric carbon, certifying it so that it can be brought to market.

Mission Zero Technologies’ electrochemical DAC technology recovers CO2 from the atmosphere using electricity and water.

The remotely operated plant will run on solar power generated on site to recover 50 metric tons per year of high-purity CO2 from the air.

The versatile DAC technology provides a plug-and-play source of sustainable carbon on demand for both sustainable use and permanent removal.

Designed for rapid scaling, it leverages mature, off-the-shelf components in a modular design that can be integrated with load-variable renewable grids.

UK industrial climate leadership

A watershed moment for the UK’s DAC and SAF industries, the plant reinforces the U.K.’s position as an international climate leader accelerating critical solutions to help deliver net zero.

DAC is widely seen as the only technology capable of providing a sustainable carbon feedstock to help the U.K. government meet its mandate for 10 percent SAF jet fuel by 2030, according to Mission Zero Technologies.

This first-of-a-kind U.K. DAC-to-jet fuel project will provide project financiers and developers with the analysis required to scale a U.K. SAF ecosystem.

By proving DAC’s readiness for industrial scale, it will also pave the way for more fossil-dependent industries to rapidly decarbonize.

“We’re thrilled to be delivering our first ever DAC plant on home soil with the University of Sheffield,” said Nicholas Chadwick, CEO of Mission Zero Technologies. “DAC is a multiuse technology able to drive deep industrial decarbonization and permanent carbon removal. Through pioneering partnership, we’re already realizing that potential.”

Prof. Mohamed Pourkashanian, managing director of TERC, said, “This installation is hugely exciting for us, and for the world, as we discover more about the potential for decarbonized industrial processes and air transport using novel DAC technology. TERC’s capabilities in processing captured carbon in order to transform it has made it an ideal location for the first DAC plant. We’re excited to work closely with Mission Zero Technologies on this project and other world-leading activities.”