Recent climate reports have shown alarming trends as 2023 was confirmed as the hottest year on record and rising temperatures led to the loss of 1 million square kilometers of arctic ice in the last year. As the Biden administration is committing nearly $4 billion toward jumpstarting a new carbon capture industry in the U.S., CBS News was given an inside look at two companies taking different approaches to process.
To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, scientists say we need to stop burning fossil fuels and switch to cleaner forms of energy. But, they say, billions of tons of carbon that have already been put into the atmosphere also need to be removed.Heirloom Carbon recently opened the nation's first commercial direct air capture plant in Central California. The automated facility stacks trays of limestone 40 feet high, allowing the rock to suck carbon dioxide from the air like a sponge.