In 2025, the direct air capture (DAC) carbon removal sector transitioned into a new growth phase, one where projects evolved from early adoption into a bolder build-out chapter.
As this field matures, more and more attention is being drawn towards solutions that can provide CO2 removal results along with additional benefits at a cost that won’t break the bank and would allow more buyers to invest in DAC decarbonization projects.
One of the companies making notable strides towards this vision is Avnos.
With its proprietary Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC) technology, Avnos offers a new, lower-cost, and lower-consumption version of conventional DAC solutions that not only successfully tackles atmospheric CO2 emissions, but also produces clean water as a by-product.
To date, Avnos has launched an operational pilot in Bakersfield, California, a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Bridgewater, NJ, and is currently working on constructing a first-of-its-kind HDAC facility called Project Cedar at a U.S. location yet to be disclosed.
In November, the company secured $17 million in project financing from Shell US Gas and Power, LLC (Shell), and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), which will fuel activities towards the launch of Project Cedar in 2026.
As 2025 slowly comes to a close, we had the chance to hear from Avnos Founder and CEO Will Kain, who shared his perspective on the progress made so far and future priorities for the HDAC company and the DAC field as a whole.
Congrats on the Shell & Mitsubishi project financing! What milestones do you expect to hit with Project Cedar as you advance towards the planned end-of-2026 launch?
Project Cedar is our most ambitious project yet, marking the transition to commercial-scale Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC) deployment. Shell and Mitsubishi have committed up to $17 million in phased project financing, which will accelerate HDAC’s path to market, drive down costs through real-world learning, and establish a repeatable model for building carbon removal infrastructure at scale.
In early 2026, we’ll announce the site location and expect to break ground in the spring, ahead of first operations by the end of the year. When complete, Cedar will deploy four HDAC modules capable of capturing 3,000 tons of CO2 annually while producing more than 6,000 tons of clean water.
Relevant: Avnos To Build Its Cedar HDAC Facility With New $17M From Shell And Mitsubishi
What makes HDAC a suitable technology for data center integration?
HDAC is built for the data-center era. While legacy DAC technologies consume large amounts of energy and water, HDAC does the opposite—its energy-efficient process can use low-grade waste heat to boost energy efficiency and reduce operating costs while simultaneously generating clean water for cooling.
As AI and cloud computing accelerate, data centers are looking for integrated solutions that address carbon, energy efficiency, and water use. HDAC is one of the few technologies capable of solving all three in a single, scalable platform.
Has the shift in U.S. policy priorities changed any plans for Avnos?
Despite policy headwinds, demand for durable, high-integrity carbon removal continues to outpace supply, and customers are still looking for technologies with proven operating performance and clear cost-reduction pathways. The recent expansion of the 45Q tax credit has sustained interest in the U.S., but we’re seeing the market converge on scalable, low-energy solutions that deliver meaningful co-benefits alongside high-quality CO2 removal—exactly what HDAC is designed for.
With deployments both in the U.S. and at Deep Sky’s Alpha site in Canada, are you prioritizing any region in your future strategy?
We’re also seeing growing interest from customers in the EU, UK, Canada, Japan, and across the Middle East, where water constraints and industrial demand make hybrid DAC systems a strong fit.
Read more: “We Are The Only Water Positive Company In Direct Air Capture” – Will Kain, Avnos Founder & CEO
In your opinion, what lessons did the DAC field experience this past year, and what should be the main DAC focus going forward?
This year made it clear that the sector must adapt as quickly as the world around it. The explosion of data-center growth has reshaped demand and highlighted that carbon removal must also solve for energy use, siting constraints, and water scarcity.
Looking ahead, the sector’s focus will need to shift to low-energy, water-positive systems that can scale within existing infrastructure.
Is carbon storage or carbon utilization going to be the mainstream CO2 solution in the years ahead?
Both are essential, but we’re seeing carbon-to-value move rapidly into the mainstream. Storage remains the backbone for gigaton-scale climate impact, but markets for SAF, engineered fuels, and CO2-based products are expanding rapidly.
HDAC is built for both pathways. It delivers high-purity CO2 at low energy, which makes the technology ideal for both storage and co-located utilization projects. In many ways, the combination of water, high-quality CO2, and low energy positions HDAC as one of the most versatile platforms for the next generation of carbon-based value chains.
What should the DAC sector prioritize to unlock larger-scale deployment?
First, we need more steel in the ground. Real projects build trust, derisk supply chains, and drive the learning needed to bring costs down. Second, the sector must focus on technologies that eliminate DAC’s biggest cost drivers—high-temperature heat and external water—and adopt architectures that are truly scalable.
At Avnos, our next wave of multi-module deployments is designed to demonstrate exactly that: lower energy use, reduced operating costs, and repeatable designs that rapidly drive down the cost curve with every project.
