The largest direct air capture and storage (DAC+S) plant currently in existence, the Mammoth in Iceland, has started operations. It is the second commercial DAC+S facility of Climeworks and is about ten times bigger than its predecessor plant, Orca.

The plant is designed for a capture capacity of up to 36,000 tons of CO2 per year from the air and storing it permanently underground. Climeworks broke ground on Mammoth in June 2022, with the plant built with a modular design and using renewable energy to power its direct air capture process supplied by geothermal energy partner ON Power. Once the CO2 is released from the filters, storage partner Carbfix transports the CO2 underground, where it reacts with basaltic rock through a natural process, which transforms into stone, and remains permanently stored. Climeworks verifies and certifies the whole process by independent third parties.

Beyond Iceland, Climeworks is developing three megaton hubs in the US with operational and testing experience derived from its now two commercial plants in Iceland, all of which have been selected by the US Department of Energy for public funding for a total of more than $600m. The largest one, Project Cypress in Louisiana, was granted an initial $50m in March to kickstart the project.

Climeworks intends to replicate its megaton hubs worldwide, and is actively developing projects in Norway, Kenya, and Canada.

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