On Friday, June 21, 2024, we achieved a milestone that we hope will make future generations proud. We unveiled the first in our Leo Series of direct air capture (DAC) modules to an audience of 150 industry experts, partners, customers, and CDR stakeholders.
As guests arrived at the event, their eyes were immediately drawn to the impressive sight of our shipping container-sized module . By itself, Leo will have a small impact on climate change. Outfitted with 12 DAC reactors, each Leo Series module can remove 500 tons of CO₂ per year—about 100 cars’ worth of annual emissions. (Scientists are clear that we need to remove gigatons by mid-century.) But Leo represents something greater—it signals the beginning of a new era in climate innovation, where the barriers that have prevented DAC from achieving meaningful levels of carbon removal are beginning to crumble.
Leo is the first commercial-scale DAC system designed for mass manufacturing in the United States. Soon we plan to manufacture 10s of Leos, then 100s, and then 1000s at our recently announced facility in Mesa, AZ. And that is our path to make large-scale carbon removal economically viable and scalable.
Speaker Program
We kicked off our unveiling ceremony with an inspiring speaker program, which included thought-leaders from all sides of the political spectrum who share two core beliefs: we need to remove a lot of CO₂ from the atmosphere and, DAC is a huge economic opportunity today. Known throughout the industry as an ardent CDR advocate, Chris Neidl, Co-founder of The OpenAir Collective and Board Member of the Direct Air Capture Coalition, served as our emcee and kicked off the program with genuine enthusiasm: “I’ve been a DAC enthusiast/nerd for about 20 years and in the field for 6 and this is the first real, living breathing DAC system I’ve ever stood next to. I had goosebumps walking next to the unit.”
Here’s some key moments from each of our esteemed speakers (quotes have been edited for clarity):
“What’s so awesome is that this team led by Adrian, continues to exceed all expectations, leveraging everyone in the company’s brain power to come up with clever ways to make this more cost effective, to make this more scalable, because we need to do this at an enormous scale.”
Bill Gross
Chairman and Co-founder, CarbonCapture Inc.
“CarbonCapture’s efforts to systematically advance a modular approach to direct air capture technology—that's manufactured to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and scale deployment—underscores the indispensable role of the private sector in developing and deploying these technologies at a scale commensurate with meeting our climate challenges and what’s necessary to truly build a clean energy and industrial economy.”
Brad Crabtree
Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Energy
“The technology that they have delivered today confirms that we can, when we pull together, invent and simplify incredibly powerful technologies that should give us all enormous hope in the fight against climate change.”
Nick Ellis
Principal, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund
“What we do best in philanthropy is really being people-focused and engaging communities to help people to understand the benefits and risks of new technologies...As a Rhodium study that we helped fund shows, there’s almost a one-to-one correlation between the skill sets that are needed to take oil out of the ground and the skills to take CO₂ out of the air and put it back in the ground permanently. We think that is a very promising path to help workers and demonstrate to communities that this technology can help benefit them.”
Jan Mazurek, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Aviation and Carbon Dioxide Removal, Climateworks
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“I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to CarbonCapture Inc. for their visionary leadership and hard work in bringing this technology into fruition. Your efforts are a shining example of what can be achieved when innovation, determination, and collaboration come together. Wyoming is proud to host this cutting-edge technology as we move into the future.”
JT Larson
Wyoming State Representative
“Seeing how the private sector can be motivated to take action is really inspiring. Being able to share the stage today with so many of you who have done just amazing work over many years to get to this point is what drives me to continue to develop the policy.”
Steven Cliff, Ph.D.
Executive Officer, California Air Resources Board
“I don’t think in all my 20 years doing what I do, I’ve ever felt like we’re about to unlock an American revolution on climate technology. We’re seeing that as we speak.”
Chris Camacho
President & CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC)
“It was really important for me to make this trip, to be here with Secretary Crabtree, to demonstrate that there is bipartisan support for this industry.”
Neil Chatterjee
Former Chairman of FERC and board member of CarbonCapture Inc.
“We’re developing a product that is inherently upgradeable. This machine will be around for 20 or 30 years and it will get upgrades every year that it’s operating. In addition, every time we’re rolling a new machine out on the line, it will incorporate the best technology that we have available.”
Adrian Corless
CEO, CarbonCapture Inc.
Live Demonstration
Seeing is believing, so following our speakers, it was time for Leo's big moment. Saeb Besarati, our Chief Technology Officer, and Brian Holman, our Manager of Systems Engineering, took the audience through a live demonstration. As Leo processed through the phases of adsorption, evacuation, steam desorption, and cooling, our guests saw outputs from the module's sensors on a giant TV monitor. The evidence was there, Leo removes CO₂ from thin air at 0.04% concentration and generates a concentrated stream of CO₂ at 95% purity. Matt Reisdorf, Executive Director of Process Technology at Fluor, was on hand to confirm the results. Audience members approached the team afterwards and shared that this was the most transparent and comprehensive live demonstration they've seen in the DAC industry, going through every step of the process in front of industry experts and now, going further to make it available online for public viewing.
David Apps, our VP of Manufacturing, finished the program providing insights into the manufacturing strategy for our LEO Series. He emphasized that the investment in establishing manufacturing capabilities is crucial for scaling production, optimizing operational performance, and managing the supply chain efficiently.
Where we go from here
Our unveiling event was more than just a display of our cutting-edge DAC technology; it was a celebration of what can be achieved through collective ambition and dedication. “We have 65 people here today that have actually made this happen,” Adrian told the audience with pride. “I think you can probably appreciate the immense effort that it took to pull this together from many different perspectives. Please give a round of applause for the team, I am so proud of them.”
“We have 65 people here today that have actually made this happen”
Lastly, the event was a call to join us in our fight against climate change. “The challenge we’re facing is immense. It is so far beyond what we could imagine accomplishing as a small tech company,” Adrian Corless said at the conclusion of the speaking program. “You represent industry, you represent partners, you represent policy...we need all of your help to be successful. Anything you can do to help, any way we can help you, please reach out. It’s our goal and our mission to do this as part of a community.”
Stay tuned for more on Leo, our manufacturing plans, and more exciting announcements. Watch the full speaker program and our demonstration on YouTube:
And oh, btw...
Why did we name our module series Leo? It’s a loving tribute to our CTO, Saeb Besarati, and his dog, Leo. Saeb was CarbonCapture’s first employee. From conceiving ideas to bringing to life a fully functional module, Saeb has led a brilliant team of engineers and scientists. We’re grateful Saeb is on our team, and we can't resist a really cute dog. We think we can make our planet a more livable and thriving home for all creatures including Leo.
