Climeworks

Switzerland-based Climeworks specializes in direct air capture (DAC) operations. In 2018, Climeworks stated that its gross cost of capture is around USD 600 per metric ton, but is expected to fall below USD 100 per metric ton in 5–10 years as operations scale up.

Climeworks operates 18 DAC facilities across Switzerland, Iceland, and Italy. Climeworks scaled up its DAC technology from Capricorn to gigaton scale with the launch of Orca, the world’s first DAC+S plant in September 2021. In May 2024, the company unveiled Mammoth, the world’s largest DAC+S plant, to permanently remove CO2. Mammoth is nearly 10x the size of Orca and is powered by renewable geothermal energy, which captures CO2 directly from the air using low-temperature heat.

Climeworks’ DAC technology is already commercialized through a subscription model, allowing users to subscribe to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that they would like to offset.

In April 2024, the company launched Climeworks Solutions, a new service offering carbon removal portfolios, in addition to its DAC-based carbon removal service. In June 2024, the company launched its Generation 3 DAC technology, which uses novel structured sorbent materials to replace the packed filter beds used in previous technology generations for megaton-scale CO2 removal.

Key customers and partnerships

Once subscribed, Climeworks builds the necessary CO2 capture plants at its sequestration sites, operates them, and transfers the CO2 collected to its partner Carbfix for permanent underground storage; it expects this process to take around five years. Climeworks has signed multiple carbon removal agreements with Microsoft, Stripe, Shopify, Swiss Re, Square, Ocado Retail, Audi, Zendesk, Rothesay, LGT, BCG, Swarovski, La Prairie, UBS, PwC Switzerland, Zurich Insurance, H&M Group, Crypto.com, JPMorgan Chase, SWISS, LEGO Group, and Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Climeworks has also partnered with 1) Northern Lights, a carbon transport and storage joint venture between Equinor, Shell, and Total, to explore opportunities to develop a full-chain carbon removal project in Norway, 2) 44.01, an Omani carbon mineralization startup, to explore potential DAC and storage projects in Oman, 3) Gulf Coast Sequestration, to develop the first DAC and carbon storage hub in Louisiana and 4) Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) of University of North Dakota, for the deployment of the Prairie Compass DAC hub in North Dakota.

In November 2023, Climeworks and Deep Sky signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop large-scale carbon capture and storage projects in Canada. In January 2024, Climeworks partnered with Svante to source contactor blocks with the latter’s CO2 filter technology to improve the efficiency of carbon capture. In June 2024, the company partnered with Swiss WorldCargo to launch a new "Aviation Tech Pioneer" carbon removal service option for its customers. In September 2024, Climeworks partnered with Terraset, a non-profit organization, to provide philanthropic support for carbon removal. In October 2024, the company partnered with Coca-Cola HBC in Switzerland to produce carbon-neutral sparkling water.