Team of Battelle, Climeworks, Heirloom Receive Notification of Selection on Direct Air Capture Hub from U.S. Department of Energy

August 11, 2023 06:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Battelle and leading clean technology developers Climeworks and Heirloom have received Notification of Selection from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a proposal for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs program.

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The Project Cypress DAC Hub is planned to be sited in Southwest Louisiana and is designed to advance the commercialization of Direct Air Capture and Storage (DAC+S), an innovative technology powered by renewable energy that will verifiably remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store it safely underground, and generate advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S. to further the country’s climate goals.

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“Project Cypress is precisely the kind of program that brings together the many facets of work we do at Battelle,” said Battelle Executive Vice President of Applied Science and Technology Matt Vaughan. “Our expertise in both large-project management and carbon sequestration during the past two decades positioned us to lead this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Notification of Selection from the DOE indicates the project can proceed with negotiations leading to an award. Battelle is the prime contractor on the project with kick-off planned for late 2023.

Siting Project Cypress in Louisiana, a state with a long history as an energy leader, provides access to local talent and expertise that are essential to scaling carbon removal and storage technologies. Local carbon storage company, Gulf Coast Sequestration, will partner with Project Cypress to sequester captured CO2. GCS is already in the advanced stages of obtaining Class VI well approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Carbon capture opens a new era of energy and manufacturing dominance for Louisiana. It is the future of job creation and economic development for our state,” said Dr. Bill Cassidy, U.S. Senator from Louisiana. “It’s for this reason that I wrote the original Direct Air Capture Hub program and ensured its inclusion in the infrastructure bill. As these projects move forward today, we are excited that both the companies involved, and the Department of Energy recognize the future of American energy and manufacturing lay in Louisiana.”

In addition to removing CO2 from the atmosphere, Project Cypress aims to make robust investments in the local community and region creating new job pathways in the design, construction, and operation of the DAC Hub.

“Louisiana’s climate action plan has positioned us as a leader in the global energy transition, and this notification from DOE is another milestone in our efforts,” said Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. “Our talented energy workforce and embrace of lower carbon technologies make us the perfect fit for innovative projects like this Direct Air Capture Hub. I would like to thank Battelle, Climeworks, and Heirloom for selecting Southwest Louisiana for Project Cypress. And I would like to thank President Biden, Senator Bill Cassidy, and Representative Troy Carter for their support of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that has made this possible.”

Battelle Energy and Resilience Division Manager Shawn Bennett said, “It is important to bring Direct Air Capture projects to fruition across the country as a method of bridging to a future that greatly reduces the amount of legacy carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. This project, and projects of this nature supported by the DOE, is designed to bring many benefits to communities where they are located, and we look forward to working with the communities of Southwest Louisiana to maximize those opportunities for them.’’

“The Notification of Selection is a recognition that Project Cypress has what it takes to contribute to the build-up of the American DAC ecosystem,” said Daniel Nathan, Chief Project Development Officer at Climeworks. “It is a testament to Climeworks' proven ability to deliver high-quality, high-integrity carbon removal via DAC+S and we are excited to work alongside all project partners to bring DAC technology to the Gulf Coast. Combining our decade-long experience of developing, deploying, and operating commercial DAC facilities with Battelle’s experience in leading large project execution will lay the foundation for the hub that will bring carbon removal to life in Louisiana—for maximum climate impact and to the benefit of local communities.”

“The Notification of Selection underscores Heirloom’s potential to safely and permanently remove CO2 from the air at megaton scale, in collaboration with our Project Cypress partners, the Biden administration, and the State of Louisiana,” said Max Scholten, Heirloom’s Head of Commercialization. “Project Cypress’s success will be measured through the jobs we create and the benefits we shape with communities in our new home of Louisiana. This is a chance to write the playbook for how a new era of industrial policy lifts up the people and places that inequities of the past have overlooked as we make a measurable difference for the climate. We can’t wait to get to work.”

The project has a website that can be visited at https://www.projectcypress.com/.

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

About Climeworks

Climeworks is a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology, empowering companies to advance their net zero roadmaps and fight global warming.

Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale with integrity at its core and a focus on the highest quality, permanent removals.

Climeworks is spearheading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s only commercial DAC facility combined with storage installation in operation, modular CO2 collectors designed for scalability, and facilities running exclusively on clean energy. Their growing customer base counts multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS, JPMorgan Chase and Swiss Re.

At Orca, Climeworks’ DAC facility in Iceland, the CO2 is permanently removed from the air by capturing and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’ underground mineralization partner Carbfix. The CDR services delivered from Orca are verified by independent 3rd party DNV.

For inquiries relating to Climeworks, please reach out to media@climeworks.com.

About Heirloom

Heirloom builds low-cost Direct Air Capture technology that will permanently remove CO2 at a billion-ton scale. Their technology rapidly accelerates the natural ability of minerals to absorb CO2 from the air from a timespan of years to days. Heirloom has the only operating Direct Air Capture facility in North America, and its customers are the world’s biggest buyers of carbon removal including Microsoft, Stripe, Klarna, Shopify and more. Heirloom is funded by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Carbon Direct Capital Management, Ahren Innovation Capital, Prelude Capital, Lowercarbon Capital and others. For more see www.heirloomcarbon.com

For inquiries relating to Heirloom, please reach out to press@heirloomcarbon.com.

About GCS

Gulf Coast Sequestration (GCS) is the leading carbon sequestration solution in the United States, partnering with industrial customers to capture CO₂ and safely contain it underground.

Initially focused on the industrial corridor between southwest Louisiana and Texas, GCS expects to be the first operational carbon storage hub on the Gulf Coast. With an anticipated launch date in 2024, the hub will remove 10 million tons of CO₂ emissions annually from the atmosphere.

More information about GCS is online at www.gcscarbon.com.