Jun 26, 2024
Our DAC unveiling event: Kicking off a new era in climate innovation
On Friday, June 21, 2024, we achieved a milestone that we hope will make future generations proud. We unveiled the first in our Leo Series of direct air capture (DAC) modules to an audience of 150 individuals at our new{" "} facility in Mesa, AZ.
As guests arrived at the event, their eyes were immediately drawn to the impressive sight of our shipping container-sized module. By itself, Leo will have a small impact on climate change. Outfitted with our modular architecture, however, it becomes the foundational building block for deploying DAC at scale. Scientists are clear that we need to remove gigatonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere to limit global warming, and Leo is our first step toward that goal.
Leo is the first commercial-scale DAC system designed for mass manufacturing in the United States. Soon we plan to manufacture 10s of Leos, then 100s, and then 1000s at our recently announced facility in Mesa, AZ. The full speaker program was made available online for public viewing.
Speaker Program
We kicked off our unveiling ceremony with an inspiring speaker program, which included thought-leaders from all sides of the political spectrum who share two core beliefs: we need to remove a lot of CO₂ from the atmosphere, and America should lead the way. Here's some key moments from each of our esteemed speakers (quotes have been edited for clarity):
"What's so awesome is that this team led by Adrian, continues to exceed all expectations, leveraging everyone in the company's brain power to come up with clever ways to make this more cost effective,"
Brad Crabtree
Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Energy
"The technology that they have delivered today confirms that we can, when we pull together, invent and simplify incredibly powerful technologies that should give us all enormous hope in the fight against climate change."
Nick Ellis
Principal, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund
"What we do best in philanthropy is really being people-focused and engaging communities to help people to understand the benefits and risks of new technologies...As a Rhodium study that we helped fund showed, direct air capture could create 5 million jobs in the US by 2050."
JT Larson
Wyoming State Representative
"CarbonCapture's efforts to systematically advance a modular approach to direct air capture technology—that's manufactured to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and scale deployment—underscores the importance of modular design in achieving the scale needed to address climate change."
Jan Mazurek, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Aviation and Carbon Dioxide Removal, Climateworks
"I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to CarbonCapture Inc. for their visionary leadership and hard work in bringing this technology into fruition. Your efforts are a shining example of what innovation and determination can accomplish."
Steven Cliff, Ph.D.
Executive Officer, California Air Resources Board
"I don't think in all my 20 years doing what I do, I've ever felt like we're about to unlock an American revolution on climate technology. We're seeing that as we speak."
Chris Camacho
President & CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC)
"Seeing how the private sector can be motivated to take action is really inspiring. Being able to share the stage today with so many of you who have done just amazing work over many years to get to this point is truly humbling."
"It was really important for me to make this trip, to be here with Secretary Crabtree, to demonstrate that there is bipartisan support for this industry."
Neil Chatterjee
Former Chairman of FERC and board member of CarbonCapture Inc.
Adrian Corless
CEO, CarbonCapture Inc.
Live Demonstration
Seeing is believing, so following our speakers, it was time for Leo's big moment. Saeb Besarati, our Chief Technology Officer, and Brian Holman, our Manager of Systems Engineering, took the audience through a live demonstration of Leo capturing CO₂ directly from the air.
David Apps, our VP of Manufacturing, finished the program providing insights into the manufacturing strategy for our LEO Series. He emphasized that the investment in establishing manufacturing capabilities in the US is not just about building machines—it's about creating a new industry.
"We're developing a product that is inherently upgradeable. This machine will be around for 20 or 30 years and it will get upgrades every year that it's operating. In addition, every time we're rolling out a new unit, we can incorporate the latest improvements."
Where we go from here
Our unveiling event was more than just a display of our cutting-edge DAC technology; it was a celebration of what can be achieved through collective ambition and dedication.
"We have 65 people here today that have actually made this happen"
Lastly, the event was a call to join us in our fight against climate change. "The challenge we're facing is immense. It is so far beyond what we could imagine accomplishing as a small tech company," Adrian said. Together, we can scale this technology to the level the planet needs.
Stay tuned for more on Leo, our manufacturing plans, and more exciting announcements. Watch the full speaker program and our demonstration on YouTube:
And oh, btw...
Why did we name our module series Leo? It's a loving tribute to our CTO, Saeb Besarati, and his dog, Leo. Saeb was CarbonCapture's first employee. From conceiving ideas to bringing to life a fully functional direct air capture machine, Saeb has been at the heart of everything we do.
