Microwave-Based Direct Air Capture

Aircapture, a Berkeley-based direct air capture company, has been selected as one of 16 winners of Tencent's CarbonX 2.0 award for its patented Lightswing process — a microwave-based direct air capture technology that significantly reduces the energy and equipment costs associated with conventional thermal regeneration methods. Aircapture's Lightswing microwave-based direct air capture technology works by targeting microwave energy specifically to break the bond between CO₂ and the sorbent material without heating the entire system. This innovation addresses one of the primary barriers to DAC's commercial viability, as thermal regeneration has traditionally been the most energy-intensive step. Aircapture's approach brings the desorption process closer to its theoretical minimum, offering substantial reductions in both operating and capital expenditures per tonne captured. The award, which includes a share of nearly $30 million, carries a mandate to develop a 100-tonne-per-year pilot facility in Kenya's Rift Valley basalt basin, where the geology enables permanent underground CO₂ sequestration.

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