Climeworks, a Swiss direct air capture (DAC) startup, has unveiled its second DAC plant, Mammoth in Hellisheidi, Iceland, the world's largest DAC plant to date.

The new plant will capture up to 36,000 tons of CO2 per annum and is 9x larger than its predecessor plant, Orca (which captured 4,000 tons of CO2 per annum). 

The plant has begun capturing its first batch of CO2, with 12 of the 72 collector containers installed onsite. The plant will be completed by the end 2024. 

Mammoth is powered by renewable geothermal energy, which captures CO2 directly from the air using low-temperature heat. The plant’s geothermal energy partner, ON Power, provides the needed energy. Once the CO2 is released from the filters, carbon sequestration partner Carbfix transports it underground, where it is converted to stone through a natural reaction with basaltic rock.

Analyst QuickTake: Climeworks originally broke ground on Mammoth in June 2022 , moving the industry beyond pilot plants and lab demonstrations. However, the new plant will soon be overtaken by other planned plants in the pipeline. 1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, plans to open STRATOS in Texas in 2025, capturing up to 500,000 tons of CO2 per year. Climeworks, along with Battelle and Heirloom, is designing Project Cypress in Louisiana, with plans to capture up to 1 million tons of CO2 annually by 2030.