Avnos Inc. – the direct air capture company developing Hybrid DAC technology, announced on July 13th it has signed multi-year strategic partnerships, in excess of $80 million in aggregate, with each of the following companies: ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), JetBlue Technology Ventures, the corporate venture capital division of JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU), and Shell Ventures LLC, the US venture capital arm of Shell plc (NYSE: SHEL), to accelerate deployment of its unique approach.
According to the partnerships, Avnos will use the $80 million in capital to deliver commercial-ready HDAC units by the end of 2025. The company is working with its partners on a number of applications for its technology.
Relevant: “Our Hybrid Direct Air Capture System Captures Both Water And CO2” – Will Kain, CEO Avnos
“Adding blue-chip strategic partners such as ConocoPhillips, JetBlue, and Shell provides us with an incredible opportunity to access more resources, know-how, and global reach to meaningfully accelerate our deployment schedule. Ultimately, we will be able to remove more atmospheric carbon, faster, and at lower costs than we would have been able to on our own. This is a very exciting announcement at a very exciting time for our company,” said Will Kain, CEO of Avnos.
Avnos is developing a groundbreaking solution – the only carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology that captures both CO2 and water from the atmosphere in the same system called a hybrid direct air capture system (HDAC). Its pilot unit produces approximately 300 tons of water per year and captures around 33 tons of CO2 annually.
While typically direct air capture systems consume several tons of water per ton of CO2 captured, Avnos has managed to reverse this equation. Furthermore, the system is more energy efficient – it requires less than half the energy used by competitor approaches.
It uses the captured water to drive a novel moisture-responsive CO2 adsorbent material that eliminates the need for heat, which reduces the energy consumption. The improved characteristics are driving down the cost per ton of CO2 captured with the company estimating it could reach $100 in early 2030s.
“ConocoPhillips is pleased to support Avnos as they develop a promising technology that captures carbon and produces water… Investing in this promising Hybrid Direct Air Capture technology aligns with our company’s commitment to finding innovative solutions that reduce carbon emissions crucial to enable an orderly energy transition,” said Warwick King, vice president Low Carbon Technologies at ConocoPhillips.
“JetBlue Ventures is thrilled to support Avnos and the development of their HDAC technology that not only captures CO2 at impressively low cost but also generates meaningful amounts of water in the process and could play an important role in e-fuels production. The caliber of the technology, team and partners around Avnos is top tier, and we’re glad to be on board,” said Jim Lockheed, Investment Principal at JetBlue Ventures.
Relevant: Exxon To Advance Direct Air Capture With Its Own Pilot Project
“Of particular interest is the potential of Avnos’ technology to reduce energy demand in capturing CO2 and its ability to produce water,” also commented Brian Panoff, President, Shell Ventures LLC.
Direct air capture and storage is a leading technological approach to removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. Even though it’s a brand new sector, it’s already attracting growing interest from investors and corporates looking to reduce emissions. The world needs to speed up the development of emission reduction solutions and carbon dioxide removals – both natural and engineered if it wants to slow down climate change and restore balance in nature.
