DENVER, June 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The federal government’s first direct investment in removing carbon dioxide from the air selected two semifinalist projects driven by Global Thermostat’s technology.

Global Thermostat was acquired last month by fellow Direct Air Capture company Zero Carbon Systems, bringing together its core technology with Zero Carbon Systems’ highly advanced engineering design. The combined company will enable additional resources to be dedicated to the next phases of the DOE prize contest.

Global Thermostat’s partnerships with Fervo Energy and Carbon America were among nine Direct Air Capture winners in Phase 1 of the Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize. These proposals now advance to the final phases of the competition for a carbon credit Purchase Agreement with DOE worth up to $3 million.

“We’re honored that Global Thermostat, which we recently acquired, has won this recognition from the Department of Energy,” said David Elenowitz, Founder and CEO of Zero Carbon Systems. “This is a further testament to their core Direct Air Capture technology, which is widely considered among the best of the world – and which we believe can help drive a low-cost and low-energy system that is highly scalable, to the megaton level and beyond.”

Global Thermostat’s submission with Fervo Energy integrates Direct Air Capture with geothermal-generated heat and electricity, to be co-located on Fervo’s site in Milford, Utah. Fervo and Global Thermostat have already completed a Class V cost estimate with top engineering firm Kiewit Corporation for this project.

Carbon America’s proposal also features Global Thermostat’s technology, and would leverage both companies’ Colorado presence to demonstrate a scalable model in the state for carbon removal. Pairing Global Thermostat’s technology with Carbon America’s sequestration sites and expertise in project development can enable more rapid build-out of decarbonization solutions. The companies share a strong commitment to community engagement and environmental justice and look forward to engaging local stakeholders in these projects. 

The CDR Pilot Prize is the first time the U.S. government will serve as a customer for carbon dioxide removal credits. According to DOE, the prize is intended to catalyze the development of a market for carbon removal; demonstrate rigorous monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification of high-quality credits; and provide a model for workforce development and community benefits.

About Zero Carbon Systems
Zero Carbon Systems is a direct air capture company focused on delivering highly scalable, low cost, and low energy solutions for carbon dioxide removal. The ZCS design offers a continuous process, the ability to run 100% on renewable electricity, and very large-scale, high-throughput units to optimize economics at the megaton scale and beyond. Zero Carbon Systems is funded by Zero Carbon Partners, an investment and strategic operating firm focused on emerging companies in the low carbon sector with the potential to remove at least 0.5 gigatons (500 million tons) of CO₂ per year from the atmosphere by 2050.

About Global Thermostat
Global Thermostat has been a pioneer in the carbon dioxide removal space, with over 10 years’ experience developing technologies and an extensive patent portfolio related to optimizing the performance of Direct Air Capture systems. Their Direct Air Capture technology uses a proprietary solid sorbent embedded on a monolith, coupled with a low temperature vacuum adsorption process, to cost-effectively capture CO2 from air at climate scale. In 2022, GT successfully completed a demonstration unit with a nominal capacity of 1 kiloton per year at its headquarters near Denver, Colorado.

SOURCE Global Thermostat, PBC