The US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is to help guide the development of new science-based performance metrics, testing methods and standards for direct air capture (DAC).

DAC is a major component of the nation’s efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. While point source capture is needed for deployment at power plants and industrial sites to reach decarbonisation goals, DAC technologies will be essential for offsetting emissions from hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as agriculture, shipping and aviation.

As part of a four-year memorandum of understanding (MOU), NETL will work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Their goal is to advance the underlying measurement science for DAC systems and research and address issues hampering scale-up and commercialisation.