DAC2Bio - Direct air capture of CO2 and H2O to enable sustainable biomanufacturing

The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels has resulted in a graduate increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration and anthropogenic global warming. To address this issue, negative emission technologies, particularly direct air capture (DAC) should become a major focus. Despite the wide investigation of DAC for a variety of different industries (e.g., food and beverage, and synthetic fuel production), its use for biomanufacturing has remained relatively unexplored. This project aims to scale up our newly designed DAC2Bio unit for bioindustries with medium concentration CO2 and H2O co-production. DAC2Bio is an innovative packed bed column, containing DAC beads with high CO2 uptake performance that has the potential to be commercialized in the short term. The new DAC2Bio v2.0 unit will be able to produce 10 kg CO2 and 5-50 kg H2O per day which can supply the needs of a 180 litres bioreactor for cyanobacteria and natural photosynthetic ingredients production. Together with Woodside Energy and Bondi Bio, we will develop the principles of advanced design and material fabrication principles for DAC2Bio’s deployment at a commercial scale. The outcomes will open new avenues to exponentially reduce the price of sustainable CO2, accelerate its large-scale deployment and CO2 utilisation in bioindustries within Australia to help them stay economically competitive in the limited market of bioingredients
worldwide.