Direct Air Capture (DAC) Explained: How It Works, Cost & Companies

Direct Air Capture (DAC) is a carbon removal technology that pulls carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly out of ambient air so it can be stored permanently underground or used in products. It is one of the main ways to remove CO₂ that is already in the atmosphere. Last updated October 2026.

This guide explains how DAC works, what it costs, the main facilities and companies, who is buying DAC removal, and how it differs from other carbon capture and removal methods.

Direct Air Capture at a Glance

• What it does: captures CO₂ from the air anywhere in the world, unlike point-source carbon capture, which treats exhaust at a factory or power plant.
• Storage: captured CO₂ is typically injected deep underground, where it can be stored permanently, for example by mineralizing in basalt rock.
• Cost: historically several hundred dollars per tonne. Google's 2024 agreement to buy 100,000 tonnes from Holocene at $100 per tonne was reported as the lowest DAC price on record.
• Energy: CO₂ is only about 0.04% of air, so DAC needs significant low-carbon energy for fans and for heat or electricity to release the CO₂.
• Scale today: still small, with the largest plants designed for tens to hundreds of thousands of tonnes a year.

What Is Direct Air Capture (DAC)?

DAC is a carbon removal technology that captures CO₂ directly from ambient air. Unlike point-source carbon capture, which targets emissions from power plants or factories, DAC can be built almost anywhere with access to clean energy and CO₂ storage.

The captured carbon can then be:

• Stored underground in geological formations (permanent storage)
• Used to create synthetic fuels or materials (carbon utilization), although this usually does not remove CO₂ for long

How Direct Air Capture Works

DAC systems use chemicals that selectively bind CO₂ from the air. The basic process is:

1. Air capture: fans pull ambient air through a filter or contactor.
2. CO₂ binding: a liquid solvent or a solid sorbent binds CO₂, separating it from the rest of the air.
3. Regeneration: heat or another process releases the CO₂ as a concentrated stream and resets the material.
4. Storage or utilization: the CO₂ is compressed and injected underground, for example into basalt or saline formations, or converted into products.

Liquid Solvent vs Solid Sorbent DAC

• Liquid solvent systems run air through a chemical liquid and release CO₂ at high temperature. They suit very large plants.
• Solid sorbent systems use filters that capture CO₂ at ambient temperature and release it at lower temperatures, and tend to be modular.

Can DAC Remove Enough CO₂ to Matter?

Alone, no. DAC is a complement to cutting emissions. Scenarios that keep warming within safe limits generally need hundreds of millions to billions of tonnes of removal a year by mid-century from all removal methods combined, and DAC is one of several. Delivering this means expanding clean energy and CO₂ storage alongside DAC.

Benefits of Direct Air Capture

• Flexible siting: plants can be placed where clean energy and storage are available.
• Permanent storage: when CO₂ is injected into suitable rock, it can be stored for very long periods and monitored.
• Measurable: removal is easier to count than for forests or soils.
• Small land footprint compared with biological methods.

How Does DAC Compare With Planting Trees?

Trees offer biodiversity and other benefits at low cost, but their carbon can be released by fire, drought or land-use change. DAC costs more but can offer measurable, permanent storage. They are complementary. See our guide to nature-based carbon removal.

Major DAC Facilities and Companies

• Climeworks (Switzerland): operates the Orca plant (opened 2021) and the larger Mammoth plant (began operations in 2024) in Iceland, using solid sorbents. In September 2026 it said upgrades had more than doubled Mammoth's capture performance under real-world conditions and cut operating cost per tonne in half, and it plans to test its next-generation technology there in early 2027.
• 1PointFive (Occidental): building STRATOS in Texas, a liquid-solvent plant designed to capture up to 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year, which the company said in 2025 was on track to begin operations by the end of that year. JPMorgan has contracted 50,000 tonnes of removal from it.
• Holocene: a DAC startup that agreed to supply Google with 100,000 tonnes at $100 per tonne, and was later acquired by Occidental.
• Heirloom and CarbonCapture Inc.: US DAC companies that received $47 million of offtake purchases from Frontier in 2023, for 72,000 tonnes.

Sirona's Direct Air Capture Projects

Sirona Technologies develops modular DAC units with in-situ storage. According to our projects page:

• Project Jacaranda (Nakuru County, Kenya): pilot operational since 2024, with 15 tonnes of removal completed and a potential of over 100,000 tonnes a year. CO₂ is stored by mineralization in basalt rock, using solar and geothermal energy, with partners EDF, Cella and Great Carbon Valley.
• Project Moringa (UAE): operational since October 2025, with 300 tonnes of removal completed and potential for 2,000 tonnes, powered by solar and stored by in-situ mineralization.
• Project Furu (Øygarden, Norway): a pilot is planned for Q4 2026 with commercial operations from 2029, storing CO₂ at the Northern Lights facility, with a ramp from 400 tonnes in 2026 to 100,000 tonnes in 2031.

Removals from these projects are certified through Isometric. You can learn more about the technology or how to remove CO₂ with Sirona.

Who Is Buying DAC?

Demand comes mainly from large companies buying permanent carbon removal:

• Microsoft is by far the largest buyer of durable carbon removal. CDR.fyi reported that Microsoft accounted for about 93% of the 8.5 million tonnes of durable removal contracted in the third quarter of 2025.
• Amazon agreed in 2023 to buy 250,000 tonnes from 1PointFive's STRATOS over 10 years.
• Google bought 100,000 tonnes from Holocene.
• Frontier, the buyer coalition backed by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta and McKinsey Sustainability, with members including JPMorgan Chase, Autodesk, H&M Group and Workday, signs offtakes for permanent removal including DAC. See Stripe, Shopify and Meta.

How Much Does DAC Cost?

DAC has historically cost several hundred dollars per tonne of CO₂, depending on technology, energy and location. Prices are expected to fall with scale and cheaper clean energy, and some recent deals, such as Google and Holocene at $100 per tonne, point to lower levels. Costs are published for individual deals on markets such as CDR.fyi.

Energy Requirements for DAC

Because CO₂ is only about 0.04% of air, DAC is energy-intensive. Energy can come from:

• Renewable electricity: solar, wind or geothermal for fans and processes
• Low-carbon heat: needed to release CO₂ from sorbents, sometimes from geothermal or waste heat

Locating DAC near clean energy and storage sites is critical to keeping emissions and costs low.

Challenges and Limitations

• High cost compared with most emission reduction options
• Energy demand for large-scale deployment
• Infrastructure: needs CO₂ transport and permitted storage
• Policy and demand: scale depends on carbon removal policy and long-term buyers
• Performance: early plants have captured less than their design capacity, as Climeworks has said, so real-world results matter more than nameplate figures.

The Future of Direct Air Capture

• Modular units that can be deployed in many places, as with Sirona's projects
• Cheaper sorbents and longer-lasting materials
• Use of geothermal and other clean heat sources
• Growth from kilotonne pilots to commercial plants of 100,000 tonnes or more a year

Why DAC Matters for Corporate Climate Strategies

Companies with emissions they cannot eliminate increasingly buy durable removal. By funding DAC they can:

• Address residual emissions with permanent removal
• Support new technology through early purchase
• Show credible progress to customers, investors and regulators

Can Small Companies Buy DAC Removal?

Yes. Many DAC providers sell removal in small quantities, and platforms such as Frontier and Stripe Climate let smaller businesses contribute.

Frequently Asked Questions About Direct Air Capture

What is direct air capture?

A technology that removes CO₂ from ambient air and stores it permanently or uses it.

Is direct air capture different from carbon capture?

Yes. Carbon capture treats exhaust at emission sources and prevents new emissions; DAC removes CO₂ already in the air.

Does DAC work?

Yes, but at small scale so far, and early plants have underperformed their design capacity. Climeworks reported in September 2026 that upgrades more than doubled Mammoth's performance.

Where does captured CO₂ go?

Mostly into deep geological storage, such as basalt, where it can mineralize. Some is used in products.

How much does direct air capture cost per tonne?

Historically several hundred dollars, with the lowest reported deal at $100 per tonne.

Who are the leading DAC companies?

Climeworks, 1PointFive (Occidental), Holocene, Heirloom, CarbonCapture Inc. and Sirona Technologies.

Conclusion

Direct Air Capture is an essential option for net-zero and net-negative goals. It is expensive and still small, but it offers measurable, permanent removal. Combined with emission cuts, renewable energy and nature-based solutions, it can help meet the Paris Agreement goals.

Sources

ESG Today: Climeworks doubles CO₂ capture performance, Carbon Herald: STRATOS DAC hub, CDR.fyi: Q3 2025 durable CDR market update and ESG News: Oxy buys Holocene.