S'porean keeps things shipshape at world's largest carbon capture plant in Iceland

Scientists consider such novel tech key in humanity's bid to limit temperature rise.

- Leow Wen Xuan

REYKJAVIK – On the remote volcanic plains of Iceland, Singaporean Terence Tham, a 39-year-old chemical engineer, is at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

As senior plant manager at Mammoth, the world’s largest direct air capture (DAC) plant, Mr Tham keeps things shipshape at the 50,000 sq m facility - equivalent to the size of about seven football fields.

The plant, one of only about 20 such facilities in the world in operation, can remove about 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. This is equivalent to taking around 8,000 cars off the road for a year.

Mammoth removes CO2 from the atmosphere using giant fans in container collectors, which pull air through filters to capture the planet-warming gas.

Companies such as tech giant Microsoft and financial services firm Stripe pay for this carbon removal service to meet their climate change commitments.

While this amount of emissions is just a fraction of annual global emissions - which amounted to over 37.4 billion tonnes in 2023 - scientists consider such novel technology key in humanity’s bid to limit global temperature rise.

Globally, scientists estimate that up to 10 billion tonnes of CO2 will need to be removed annually from the atmosphere by 2050, according to global research non-profit organisation World Resources Institute.

Currently, only 12 of 72 collector containers - which will allow the plant to take in the 36,000 tonnes of CO2 - have been deployed at Mammoth. Mr Tham coordinates with other stakeholders to ramp up production and deploy the remaining containers.

His team carries out maintenance and monitors the plant 24/7, ensuring it is run safely and efficiently. Mr Tham also works with Carbfix, an Icelandic company that turns captured CO2 into stone and stores it underground.