Cleaning the air

Cleaning the air:

How Swiss WorldCargo and Climeworks are collaborating to bring carbon removal into aviation

Swiss WorldCargo is the first air cargo carrier with an offer incorporating pioneering, high-quality technological solutions to decarbonize aviation. The airfreight division of SWISS recently launched the premium option ‘Aviation Tech Pioneer’ that combines 20% CO₂ removal through Climeworks’ innovative technology of direct air capture (DAC) and 80% reduction with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Read the article below to find out more about the technological specifics and scaling considerations of the innovative DAC technology.

Published 25 July 2024 by Cargo Marketing and Communications

Nowadays, sustainability plays an integral role in the strategy of businesses and organizations operating in the aviation and airfreight industries, with the importance to act rapidly growing significantly. This is no surprise, considering that 2.5% of global carbon emissions directly result from the air logistics sector.

Swiss WorldCargo recognizes the importance of accelerating key technologies and reliable innovation to create a more sustainable future for the air cargo industry and takes action to ensure that significant partnerships are established to drive sustainability initiatives forward. In fact, investing in modern fleet and operational improvements is not enough; to make the difference and reach net zero, new technologies and partnerships are essential.

Swiss WorldCargo’s latest collaboration effort in this area has led the division to partner with Climeworks, a Swiss-based global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology, empowering companies to advance their net-zero roadmaps and fight global warming. Through this partnership, Swiss WorldCargo now offers its customers the opportunity to remove a part of their CO₂ emissions resulting from their air cargo shipments with Climeworks’ pioneering direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) technology.

Climeworks DAC+S plant, Mammoth, Iceland

Direct air capture (DAC): A technology to permanently remove CO₂ from the air

CDR, DAC, DAC+S: many complex abbreviations for a very innovative technology and a not so complex concept. What is this new technology about? Let’s dive deeper into it.

Although there have been significant advances in fuel efficiency, achieving net zero is still a significant challenge for the aviation sector. In fact, despite commercial and air freight technologies being improved, traditional jet fuel still dominates most air flights and, even with carbon offsets, flights still emit CO₂. Direct air capture technology, therefore, has emerged as a promising solution to remove such hard-to-abate CO₂ emissions in industries like aviation.

Climeworks is a global leader within the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) field, thanks to its direct air capture (DAC) technology. In fact, the company provides a permanent solution to a persistent problem, by employing its pioneering direct air capture technology to capture CO₂ from the air, which can then be stored permanently underground. Climeworks already operates the two world’s biggest direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) facilities, called Orca and Mammoth, which are located in Iceland, and has extensive growth plans.

Detailed information on how Climeworks’ DAC technology works is available in the infobox and video below.

Technological underpinnings of DAC+S

1. Ambient air containing CO₂ is drawn into a collector by a fan. It is then passed through a filter that captures the CO₂. When the filter is completely filled with CO₂, the collector closes and the temperature rises to around 100°C.

2. This causes the filter to release the CO₂ so that Climeworks can extract the concentrated carbon dioxide. The CO₂ -filtered air is released back into the atmosphere.

3. Finally, a partner company injects the CO₂ into basalt rock formations, where it turns to stone within two years. Like this, the CO₂ is safely and permanently removed from the atmosphere.

Swiss WorldCargo’s participation in scaling efforts & consumer involvement

Climeworks’ growing customer base counts already over 160 companies, including multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS and Swiss Re. Swiss WorldCargo is joining several world-class companies from different sectors to support the scaling up of this innovative sustainable solution that has the potential to reduce aviation’s environmental impact by capturing, storing, and even potentially reusing carbon to produce synthetic fuel.

Due to the importance of sustainability to its customers, Swiss WorldCargo has taken steps to ensure that they can participate in sustainability initiatives that resonate with their goals: As of 20 June 2024, Swiss WorldCargo’s customers have the possibility to choose a new premium offering, called the ‘Aviation Tech Pioneer’ package, to support driving sustainability initiatives forward through carbon removal with direct air capture (DAC), in combination with an investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Thanks to this new offering, Swiss WorldCargo’s customers now have at disposal an option to not only help the scale-up of critical tech to reach net-zero in aviation, but also act on reaching their scope 3 emission reduction targets to support removing unavoidable emissions from the atmosphere.

With SWISS being Climeworks’ first airline partner, Swiss WorldCargo’s new premium offering reflects SWISS’ ongoing commitment to create a more sustainable future for aviation. The new offering follows other ongoing initiatives at Swiss WorldCargo, such as investments in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), lightweight containers, and modern aircraft, and has the potential to pave the way for more sustainable practices in the aviation and logistics industries for the years to come.

Find here more information about the Green Choice Add-on.

Sustainable aviation & airfreight – The path forward

While finding 100% carbon-neutral solutions has been challenging due to the current limitations of viable fuel alternatives, including Sustainable Aviation Fuels, there is promising progress. DAC+S presents an important new technology that, over time, has the potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and pave the way for a more sustainable future.

The partnership between Swiss WorldCargo and Climeworks is the first of its kind and represents a key step in driving sustainability forward in the aviation industry. It will also be critical for other air carriers to adopt more sustainable and carbon-neutral initiatives, ultimately contributing to a healthier planet.

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