This thread originated from MSE: Compact Approximation
This is meant as lemma for: Approximation Property
Given a Banach space $E$.
Denote compact domains by $\mathcal{C}$.
Denote compact operators by $\mathcal{C}(E)$.
Then there is a compact approximate identity: $$\forall C\in\mathcal{C}\,\exists C_N\in\mathcal{C}(E,E):\quad\|C_N-1\|_C:=\sup_{x\in C}\|C_Nx-x\|\stackrel{N\to\infty}\to0$$
How to construct such compact operators?