The climate tech startup was launched through a combination of highly skilled climate technologists and notable investors
Following several years of research and development, Alphabet’s X – the moonshot factory has taken a major step forward in commercializing low-cost Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. The climate tech startup 280 Earth, founded in 2022, announced the completion of its DAC facility that will remove carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere.
“Our first DAC project deploys a very energy-efficient process to capture CO2 directly from the air. As a result, our net carbon benefit will be among the best in this rapidly developing industry,” said Jacques Gagne, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of 280 Earth who invented the technology along with his team.
Gagne and co-founder John Pimentel have extensive experience in climate technologies. Gagne has been Senior Technical Director at X for thirteen years, overseeing teams of engineers and designers, and alphabet’s companies focusing on climate change.
For the past 20 years, Pimental built and invested in renewable energy companies and projects including wind, solar, water recovery/efficiency, biofuels, and municipal solid waste recycling. In addition to being the co-founder and CEO of the Mountain View-based 280 Earth, he is the president of Sustainable Water Solutions which develops on-site wastewater treatment and recovery projects for large wastewater generators.
The overall goal is for DAC to be a “negative emissions technology” by 2050. To do this the International Energy Agency believes DAC must be ambitiously scaled up to capture more than 980 megatons of carbon dioxide a year. The captured CO2 will be permanently stored underground or used as a feedstock for industrial uses such as synthetic fuels, carbon-negative concrete, or food production.
The commercially demonstrated facility will begin by capturing up to 500 tonnes per year of CO2, as well as water, from ambient air. Based in The Dalles, Oregon, the facility is scalable to be a 5,000 tonnes per year module.
The co-founders tout the facility’s equipment as being largely manufactured by American-based vendors and assembled with significant union labor content. They also note that the DAC technology maximizes environmental benefits such as using electricity with low carbon content, principally from hydropower on the local grid. In addition, 280 Earth’s low-temperature desorption process minimizes energy consumption using waste heat from nearby third-party industrial processes.
This grand Climatetech undertaking was due in large part to the highly skilled investor team of Builders VC, Gideon Yu, and Alphabet, Inc. that recently closed a $50 Million Series B funding round. Builders VC’s mantra is “We help founders modernize antiquated industries”. While Yu has very notable industry firsts, being the CFO at the 1st two internet companies to achieve 1 billion+ active users: YouTube and Facebook and the lead initial investor / first outside board member of Square.
“280 Earth’s technology will be a key contributor to the portfolio of solutions necessary to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere and it’s a strategic advantage to have the financial support and insight of Builders VC and other thoughtful investors to bring this earth-changing technology to its commercial stage,” said Pimentel.
