Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy launched the live demonstration of Climeworks’ first Direct Air Capture (DAC) testing unit within the facilities of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh.

Launching the DAC testing unit reflects the Kingdom’s leading role in advancing the circular carbon economy (CCE) and underscores its commitment to achieving global climate goals within the Saudi national context, the ministry revealed in a statement yesterday.

The unit is now capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and validating Climeworks’ pioneering technology under the region’s hot and arid conditions.

The key objective of the testing unit is to evaluate its performance under harsh, high-temperature conditions, significantly different from Climeworks’ traditional operations in colder climates such as Iceland, thereby providing critical insights into the technology’s potential deployment across Saudi Arabia and similar climates worldwide.

Hosting the DAC testing unit within KAPSARC highlights the center’s pioneering position as the Kingdom’s think tank and reflects its contributions to national climate and carbon management strategies.

Moreover, the DAC unit is part of a broader feasibility assessment launched under the Ministry of Energy, following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between KAPSARC and Climeworks at the Saudi Green Initiative Forum in December 2024.