Background

Heirloom, one of the leading DACs companies in America, builds low-cost Direct Air Capture technology that rapidly accelerates the natural processes that enable limestone to absorb CO2 from the air from a timespan of years to days. The process starts by maximizing the mineral surface area exposed to the ambient air. Then, after absorbing CO2 like a sponge, the minerals are heated, releasing the CO2 from the mineral to be captured and stored permanently. They were selected for the fund due to their scalable, potential low-cost technology.

Progress

Over the reporting period, Heirloom has made significant strides. Together with Climeworks, Heirloom was two out of three DACs companies selected for the U.S. Department of Energy Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs program. The three projects will together be rewarded with up to $1.2 billion and have the capacity to remove 2 million tonnes per year. This is a huge vouch of confidence showing that Heirloom has a high quality solution and sustainable approach to deploying it.

In partnership with CarbonCure, Heirloom also became the first in the world to store DACs-removed CO2 in concrete, marking a significant milestone in the field of carbon capture and storage. Lastly, Heirloom has made significant progress in moving its technology down the cost curve. Support from the early buyers like the CTF has played an important role in enabling Heirloom to achieve these outcomes. This support has not only provided the necessary capital to scale up the organization's CO2 removal capabilities but has also boosted its credibility in the field.

The carbon removal we purchased from Heirloom in 2021 and 2022 will be permanently stored in concrete or underground, and delivered from some of Heirloom’s first direct air capture facilities by 2026 at the latest.