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How is this Swiss company cleaning up the air?

Answer: With giant vacuum cleaners.

Climeworks, a Switzerland-based startup, hopes its CO2 collector can one day be commercialized as a viable option for removing excess CO2 from the air. The gas that the machine collects can be repurposed in a number of different ways, from making fizzy drinks to fueling crops. It can also be returned to the ground by being injected into basalt rock, where it will crystalize within a few years.

The machine uses large fans to suck in surrounding air, then filters it through a special material to which CO2 molecules stick while the rest of the air passes through. Once this “filter” is full of CO2, the machine shuts off and heats up, causing the molecules to disengage from the filter. They can then be collected in containers and sold or sent back into the earth.

In addition to the machine on top of their headquarters in Switzerland, Climeworks has also installed one in Iceland that has collected 50 tons of CO2 in the last year and a half. The company has also inked a deal with Coca-Cola for its captured CO2, as well as supplying the gas to a greenhouse in Switzerland.

Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.