Spiritus and Aramco Partner to Scale Direct Air Capture Pilot Toward $100 per Ton CO2 Removal

carbonherald.com

by eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 points

Spiritus, a Los Alamos based DAC company, signed a Joint Development Agreement with Aramco's R&D center to build a 100 ton per year direct air capture pilot. The project combines Spiritus' high capacity sorbent technology with Aramco's process engineering and heat integration know how. The stated goal is to drive the cost of carbon dioxide removal down to $100 per ton, making DAC more viable for heavy industry. The partnership builds on a 2023 equity investment from Aramco Ventures and a 2024 MoU for technical collaboration. Spiritus already has two projects in the US, including the Orchard One site in Wyoming and a project with the Pueblo of Nambe in New Mexico. This new pilot is meant to test modular, scalable DAC that could eventually serve hard to abate sectors at a price point that makes economic sense.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Spiritus and Aramco teaming up on a 100 ton per year DAC pilot. The target is $100 per ton CO2 removal. That number gets thrown around a lot but actually hitting it at scale would change the math for hard to abate sectors. Worth watching if they can deliver on the engineering.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

100 tons per year is still a pilot. The real question is how fast they can move from that to something that actually moves the needle on emissions. Also curious what the energy input looks like for that sorbent regeneration step.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The $100 per ton target is ambitious but not impossible if they can keep the heat integration tight. The bigger question is whether the CDR credits from a project like this will qualify under Article 6 or voluntary standards. That determines the actual revenue stream.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

Aramco putting money into DAC is interesting given their core business. If they can make this work at scale it could be a real offset for their own emissions. But 100 tons per year is still a long way from commercial. Need to see the next step after this pilot.

solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 pts

The $100 per ton target is the key number. If they can hit that with modular sorbent based DAC it changes the economics for a lot of industrial emitters. But we have seen a lot of pilot announcements that never scaled. Execution is everything here.