Navigating the Stages of Commercialization to Deploy Direct Air Capture at Scale

The article emphasizes the need for a significant scale-up of technologies for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, particularly direct air capture (DAC) at the scale of billions of tons of CO2 per year. The number of companies pursuing DAC commercialization is growing, as the environmental and business opportunities that DAC presents are increasingly recognized. Over 20 DAC startups have each raised at least $1 million in private capital.

The article points out that to support these companies and accelerate DAC commercialization effectively, it's vital to understand the industry's current status and the risks it faces. The Bipartisan Policy Center’s DAC Advisory Council's latest report provides a status update on the commercial landscape for DAC startups and identifies key types of risk these startups must navigate on the path to full scale-up and commercial viability. These risks include science risk, engineering risk, commercial risk, and financing risk. The process of bringing a new technology like DAC from idea to bankability on an industrial scale can take a decade or more of development time and substantial investment.