Zurich-based Carbon removal solutions provider Climeworks announced a series of performance improvements at its “Mammoth” direct air capture (DAC) and storage facility in Iceland, including revealing technology upgrades that have more than doubled CO2 capture performance under real-world conditions, while cutting operating costs per ton in half.

Founded in 2009 by Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, Climeworks provides carbon removal solutions for companies, including its own DAC technology, with the company operating the world’s first two DAC plants, Orca, opened in 2021, and Mammoth, which began operations in 2024. DAC technology extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere for use as a raw material or permanent removal when combined with storage.

Climeworks highlighted advancements in 2 key areas that have significantly enhanced the performance of Mammoth, including the sorbent, or filter material that captures CO2, with refinements made to the sorbent’s formulation and production process to increase capacity, and; the mechanical design and operation of the plant, including equipment upgrades and refinements to operating processes.

According to the company, over the 18 months operating Mammoth, the upgrades to the sorbent and plant design have delivered more than a twofold increase in throughput, with the plant’s first upgraded collector containers now achieving original design run rates.

The company also said that it plans to being testing its next generation direct air capture technology at Mammoth at the beginning of 2027, noting that it has demonstrated a tenfold improvement in sorbent lifetime in the lab, meaning less frequent sorbent replacement requirements, and a fourfold improvement in process densification, which would enable fewer collector containers to achieve the same net CDR production.

Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO at Climeworks, said:

“Climeworks is the only company worldwide that has been delivering direct air capture-based carbon removal to customers for several years. Mammoth is enabling us to maintain that leading position, while at the same time providing a platform for the accelerated deployment and validation of future step changes in technology, cost, and performance.”