Carbon capture firm runs into problems

(c) Climeworks

A combination of US government cuts in green technology and teething problems in Iceland is causing problems for the Swiss start-up which has ambitious aims to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Climeworks has raised hundreds of millions in funding. 

It did have major plans in the US, with a plant in Louisiana and a further contract with the US Department of Energy, but now those are on hold. 

In addition, a plant in Iceland is performing well under expectations. But Climeworks says that’s down to ice and snow causing some equipment to freeze. It’s confident it can fix the issues. 

But it plans to lay off around 10% of its 500 strong workforce.

More from Bitesize News

  • Temps set to fall today

    Switzerland is set to break free of its record-breaking heatwave today, as a cooler front moves in after Saturday's 39°C in Basel — a national June record broken three days running.

  • Calls to end block on air-conditioning

    A Green-Liberal MP is pushing to break its taboo around air conditioning in hospitals and care homes, as the current heatwave strains nursing staff.

  • Divonne chateau hit by fire, again

    The Chateau in the French town of Divonne les Bains has been ravaged by fire - again.

  • Fire bar will never re-open

    Six months after the New Year's fire that killed 41 people at the Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Valais cantonal president Christophe Darbellay says the site will never reopen as a bar.

  • Lausanne Pride draws thousands

    Around 20,000 marched through Lausanne on Saturday for the Pride parade, the first Pride event in the city for 20 years.

  • Police use drones to broadcast warnings

    Police in Marin, canton Neuchâtel, used drones to warn residents to stay indoors yesterday afternoon, after a hydrochloric-acid leak at an EM Microelectronics plant.

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play