Direct Air Capture of CO2

A reader sent me this piece on removing CO2 directly from the Earth’s atmosphere. I respond:

I remain skeptical that ANY CONCEIVABLE technology can accomplish this feat. I can’t imagine how you run a gas (air) with concentration 0.04% CO2 (i.e., it’s 99.96% something else, mostly nitrogen) and you somehow pull out most of the CO2. Then you shove it far underground or concert it into long-lasting products.  AND you do all this with energy that isn’t adding more CO2 into the atmosphere.

Most of the available literature on the subject comes from ExxonMobil and the other petroleum giants, and contains wordings like, “It’s possible that…”  Sure.  

I have a (legitimate) client whose technology plugs into point sources of CO2, e.g., coal plants and concrete manufacturing facilities, where concentrations are > 30%.