SpaceX is attempting a risky new venture: generating rocket fuel from thin air.
On Monday, in his recent tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said “SpaceX is starting a program to take CO2 out of atmosphere & turn it into rocket fuel,”. Musk also extended an invitation to join and wrote “Please join if interested.”.
According to Musk, such a process – using in-situ resources to make fuel — might have huge repercussions as we move closer to being interplanetary.
In a follow-up tweet, he said, “Will also be important for Mars.”
It’s especially relevant to SpaceX’s operations because its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket releases a lot of CO2 during launch.
And it’s not as far-fetched as it may appear. According to Bloomberg, SpaceX may suck thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide into a fuel source using a new process called “direct air capture” (DAC).
The world’s largest DAC plant, which can absorb up to 4,400 tonnes of CO2 per year, recently began operations in Iceland.
The world’s largest DAC plant, which can absorb up to 4,400 tonnes of CO2 per year, recently began operations in Iceland.
The news follows Musk’s announcement earlier this year of a $100 million prize for the development of carbon-removal devices. The goal is to remove 1,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, with the intention of greatly expanding the operation in the future.