While direct air capture companies have logged a number of high-profile deals with major companies and the sector has benefited from policy and financial support from the government, the industry as a whole has a long way to go to bring down costs.
A spokesperson for Heirloom said the company’s price on a per ton basis for carbon removal is generally between $600 and $1,000 a ton. Heirloom expects the industry to get to a general price of between $200 and $300 per ton by the early part of the next decade, adding that the startup “has line of sight to profitability at those prices.” The company “is on a trajectory” to hit $100 per ton, the spokesperson said, which is generally viewed by industry and others as the ideal price point for direct air capture.
How much companies pay per ton of removed carbon dioxide isn’t usually disclosed when purchase agreements are announced, but according to cdr.fyi, direct air capture cost an average of $715 per ton in 2023, down from $1,261 per ton in 2022. Direct air capture costs much more than most of the other carbon removal methods the data provider evaluated.
Heirloom’s direct air capture process involves hastening the pace at which limestone captures carbon dioxide, shortening it from years to a few days. The company’s partners then inject the captured greenhouse gas into concrete or store it underground.
Heirloom has reached deals with Microsoft and Frontier to purchase removed carbon dioxide. A company spokesperson said the participants in its new funding round don’t get any offtake agreements as a result of their investments.
Future Positive and Lowercarbon Capital both led the Series B fundraising round for Heirloom. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation in the Americas, and Siemens Financial Services were some of the other investors.
Heirloom’s latest fundraise follows a $53 million Series A announced in March 2022. Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures were also investors in that round.
