Orca, the World’s Largest Carbon Processing Facility and Iceland's Carbon Removal Project

Iceland is a beautiful country, untouched by industrialization, not due to the government’s unwillingness to spoil its nature or exploit its rich resources, but in part due to its people, who enjoy their country just the way it is. 

While the rest of the world is in a race towards developing their country and increasing its production output, Iceland’s economic pillars lean heavily on tourism, aluminum export, and fish. Aluminum smelters can go up to a kilometer long, but despite that, there are over 70,000 square kilometers of untouched land, and Iceland is fighting to keep it that way. We’re living in a world of capitalism. If it doesn’t make money, it isn’t worthwhile. In Iceland, they have a different approach. The country isn’t in a race to make the most money and as a result of that, it has greatly enhanced their tourism, because who doesn’t want to visit a destination that possesses unspoilt nature? 

Iceland is ripe for industrialization, but the country and its people are stopping it from going down that path of destruction. On top of that, the country has invested in enough renewable energy to sustain their growth. Decarbonization is the new industrialization and Iceland is on top of building a sustainable development model as the country is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy sources. Hydropower and geothermal already run the country’s electricity and heating systems, which is much more than anyone can say about any other developed country that is as big as Iceland. 

Iceland’s contributions to reducing global warming by 2 degrees

Iceland has still failed to stay within its emissions target to reduce global warming to 2 degrees by 2030 largely due to transportation and waste management. The country has the potential to further develop their renewable energy sources to create a completely renewable energy run country, though its full potential has yet to be realized.

Meanwhile, the country has initiated a climate action plan which was updated as recently as 2020, which states carbon neutrality as its key objective. By 2030, the country will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, and by 2040, they should reach true carbon neutrality. 

There is no other country which is a prime candidate for carbon neutrality. On top of their hydro and geothermal energy, Iceland can also curb emission by reclaiming drained wetlands or utilizing afforestation and revegetation. 

Iceland possesses the world’s largest carbon capture plant 

With the objective of fighting against climate change, Iceland has built Orca, the world’s largest carbon processing facility. Powered by geothermal energy, the processing plant can turn 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into stone annually, clearing the atmosphere with clean energy. It is a sustainable model, one that was first implemented in Switzerland in 2017 where the gas was sold to carbonated beverage manufacturers. 

Climeworks is behind these innovations, citing that climate cleaning technology serves a market that “urgently needs to be built.” The co-founder, Christoph Gebald is an entrepreneur slash environmentalist who has plans to industrialize eco-cleaning. 

According to Corbin Hiar of E&E News, Orca has increased the annual carbon capture capacity by 13,000 metric tons, the equivalent of emissions made by 790 cars on a yearly basis. While Orca on its own will not be able to significantly reverse global warming, it is showing the rest of the world that there is something that can be done to reduce the 35 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted every year that doesn’t rely solely on creating sustainable processes, despite the fact that carbon capture plants are expensive to run. Reports state that it costs upwards of $600 per metric ton of carbon dioxide processed. 

The future of climate change solutions

Carbon capture has faced some controversy, especially among environmentalists, as they maintain that, “National strategies should focus on eliminating the use of fossil fuels and other combustible sources in our energy system, not simply reducing their emissions intensity.” 

However, carbon removal experts have weighed in, saying that merely cutting back on fossil fuels is not adequate in reversing the damage that has been done to the planet. It is imperative that scientists and innovative tech-innovators come together to fight climate change on all fronts instead of relying on just one solution. 

Climate change is a byproduct of a culmination of things, which is why there should be various processes implemented in different industries and sectors. While fossil fuels are cut back, renewable energy is pushed to the forefront and carbon processing plants like Orca can clean up the air, each playing a part in defeating climate change. 

As for Iceland, the Arctic nation has stopped granting oil exploration licenses and will continue in their efforts to reduce the damage that contributes to climate change.