Carbon capture technology removes C02 emissions from the atmosphere and stores it underground.At the July 2022 Farnborough International Airshow, Airbus announced that a number of major carriers - Air Canada, Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Lufthansa Group and Virgin Atlantic - have each signed letters of intent to explore the technology.Direct air carbon capture and storage involves high-powered fans at a ground facility drawing in ambient air. Carbon dioxide is filtered from this captured air, with the 'clean' air returned to the atmosphere and the extracted carbon compressed and injected into saline formations located more than half-a-kilometre underground.Airbus explained: "As the aviation industry cannot capture C02 emissions released into the atmosphere at source, a direct air carbon capture and storage solution would allow the sector to extract the equivalent amount of emissions from its operations directly from atmospheric air."Airbus added that removing carbon by capture technology complements other emissions-reducing activities, including sustainable aviation fuels and more fuel-efficient new aircraft and engines, by "addressing remaining emissions that cannot be directly eliminated."Airbus said that under their agreements with the manufacturer, the airlines that have signed up to the project are "committed to engage in negotiations on the possible pre-purchase of verified and durable carbon removal credits from 2025 to 2028."Carbon credits will be issued by IPointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental's Low Carbon Ventures business, and the global deployment partner of direct air capture company Carbon Engineering.According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, carbon removal is required to help the world go beyond climate mitigation and achieve net-zero by 2050. The Air Transport Action Group's Waypoint 2050 report said that offsets, mainly in the form of carbon removals, will be needed to make up for shortfalls.
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