Exploring Industry and Non-Profit Perspectives on Community Engagement and Energy Justice for Direct Air Capture (DAC) Carbon Removal Technologies

This paper will explore the existing relationship between direct air capture (DAC)technology and energy justice (EJ) principles. As DAC is a nascent technology that is transitioning from the R&D phase to the deployment phase, a standard for typical scaling practices has not yet been established. Additionally, since the industry of DAC aims to capture at least 10 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2050, and at least 20 Gt/yr by 2100, the scaling practices of this technology will have a significant impact on communities around the world. Therefore, in this thesis I argue that if DAC is not scaled equitably, it will negatively impact the communities hosting the technology, and would develop a negative reputation which could slow down the overall scaling process. On the flip side, if DAC is scaled equitably, then it could create a positive effect by being deployed in underserved and marginalized communities and providing an economic benefit. This could result in DAC having a positive reputation and scaling more rapidly. In order to understand how the field viewed the integration of EJ principles into the scaling process, I interviewed representatives from DAC companies, experts in energy justice from NGOs and academia, and local government officials. These interviews were semi-structured, open-ended and conducted anonymously. Through these interviews I was able to refine my arguments and put forward a set of guidelines that the industry could use to scale DAC with equity and justice as core principles.