How Lufthansa Is Using Direct Air Capture to Tackle Aviation’s Hard‑to‑Eliminate Emissions

Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. Even with more efficient aircraft and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), airlines will likely still produce residual emissions for decades. To address that gap, Lufthansa Group has begun incorporating permanent carbon removal into its climate strategy—most notably through a new agreement to purchase direct air capture (DAC) credits from Deep Sky’s facility in Alberta, Canada.

The deal illustrates a broader shift in the aviation industry: companies are pairing emission‑reduction efforts with durable carbon removal technologies that can permanently extract CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Lufthansa’s Climate Portfolio Is Shifting Toward Permanent Removal

Lufthansa recently expanded and reshaped its climate protection portfolio to include 14 certified projects, with a stronger emphasis on technology‑based solutions. Around 20% of the portfolio now focuses on projects that permanently remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, roughly double the previous share.

Within this framework, the airline group is purchasing carbon removal credits generated by Deep Sky’s direct air capture operations in Alberta. The credits represent verified tonnes of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere and stored permanently underground.

For airlines, this type of removal is particularly relevant. Aviation emissions are difficult to eliminate entirely through operational efficiency or alternative fuels alone, making durable carbon removal a potential tool for addressing residual emissions on the path toward long‑term climate targets.

Senken’s Role: Structuring the Carbon Removal Portfolio

The Lufthansa agreement is structured and curated by Senken, a carbon removal portfolio manager.

Senken aggregates and arranges carbon removal projects across multiple technologies and regions, enabling companies to purchase a diversified portfolio of credits rather than relying on a single approach. In Lufthansa’s case, the agreement spans three types of carbon removal projects across three continents:

• Direct air capture from Deep Sky in Canada
• Industrial biochar from Exomad Green in Bolivia
• Regenerative agriculture projects from Klim in Germany

Projects included in the portfolio are screened using Senken’s “Sustainability Integrity Index,” which evaluates more than 600 data points to assess factors such as permanence, verification, scalability, and environmental co‑benefits.

This portfolio approach spreads risk while ensuring that at least part of the airline’s climate investment targets high‑durability removal methods like DAC.

How Deep Sky’s Direct Air Capture Facility Works

The credits purchased by Lufthansa originate from Deep Sky Alpha, a carbon removal hub in Innisfail, Alberta.

Direct air capture systems use large fans and chemical processes to pull carbon dioxide directly from ambient air. The captured CO₂ is then separated from other gases, purified, and compressed.

At the Alberta facility, the process continues with permanent storage:

1. Air is drawn through DAC units that chemically capture CO₂.
2. The captured CO₂ is purified and liquefied.
3. The gas is injected deep underground into geological formations such as saline aquifers, where it can remain trapped for thousands of years.

The site runs on renewable solar energy, reducing the emissions associated with the capture process itself.

Deep Sky Alpha represents a new type of carbon removal infrastructure because it hosts multiple DAC technologies at one site, allowing different capture systems to operate on shared renewable power and storage infrastructure.

Current Capacity and Planned Scale

Direct air capture is still in its early commercial phase, and capacity at facilities like Deep Sky Alpha remains relatively modest.

• The site has an estimated annual removal capacity of about 3,000 tonnes of CO₂.
• Individual DAC units deployed at the facility may capture smaller amounts—for example, one Airbus‑developed unit is rated at around 250 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

The facility is designed as a commercialization and testing hub for multiple DAC technologies, meaning capacity could grow as additional capture systems are installed and validated.

Why Engineered Carbon Removal Matters for Aviation

Carbon removal technologies such as DAC are increasingly seen as essential for sectors where emissions are difficult to eliminate completely.

For aviation, the challenge is structural:

• Aircraft require extremely energy‑dense fuels.
• Electrification is currently impractical for long‑haul flights.
• Even with widespread adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, residual emissions are likely to remain.

Direct air capture provides a potential way to address those remaining emissions by physically removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it permanently. This durability differentiates it from many traditional carbon offsets, which often rely on avoided emissions rather than actual removal.

The Two Big Challenges: Cost and Scale

Despite its promise, DAC faces major hurdles before it can play a large role in global decarbonization.

High cost remains the most significant barrier. Estimates from industry analyses suggest DAC removal costs often fall in the range of $400–$500 per tonne of CO₂ for early projects, although prices vary widely depending on technology and scale. Other studies have reported average voluntary market prices around $490 per tonne for future delivery credits.

The second challenge is market certainty. Building DAC facilities requires large upfront investment, but developers need long‑term buyers before financing projects. As a result, early deployment relies heavily on corporate offtake agreements, where companies commit in advance to purchasing future carbon removal credits.

Deals like Lufthansa’s agreement with Deep Sky therefore serve two purposes: they help companies address residual emissions while also helping finance the next generation of carbon removal infrastructure.

A Signal of Aviation’s Emerging Carbon Removal Market

Lufthansa’s partnership with Deep Sky—and its portfolio approach through Senken—shows how airlines are beginning to integrate permanent carbon removal alongside traditional decarbonization strategies.

Efficiency improvements, fleet renewal, and sustainable aviation fuel remain central to reducing aviation emissions. But as the industry moves toward long‑term climate targets, durable carbon removal is emerging as a complementary tool for dealing with the emissions that technology alone cannot yet eliminate.