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    Climeworks

    Also known as Climeworks AG

    Climeworks is a Zurich-based company that grew out of ETH Zurich and builds direct air capture plants, including Orca and Mammoth in Iceland, the largest operating plant of its kind.[1][2][3] Mammoth has run far below its 36,000-tonne nameplate, but in September 2026 Climeworks reported net removal up more than fivefold and operating costs per tonne cut by more than half.[4][5]

    Editor reviewedUpdated WikiClimate science and carbon removal, Energy and climate
    Key facts

    Overview

    Climeworks develops direct-air-capture technology that captures CO2 from ambient air using a proprietary sorbent filter material.[5] The company began as a laboratory project at ETH Zurich, built the first commercial direct air capture plant in Switzerland, and then built Orca and Mammoth in Iceland.[1]

    Mammoth

    Mammoth, at Hellisheiði in Iceland, started operating on 8 May 2024 with 12 of its 72 collector containers installed. It is designed for up to 36,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, about ten times Orca, with the CO2 stored permanently underground.[2] The State of CDR report found both Orca and Mammoth still operating below full capacity in 2025, when all direct air capture worldwide removed about 0.0015 million tonnes.[6]

    2026 performance update

    On 10 September 2026 Climeworks said upgrades to its sorbent and plant design had more than doubled capture in upgraded collector containers, and that operating costs per tonne had fallen by more than 50%.[5] Two upgraded containers now reach the design run rate of 1.37 tonnes of CO2 per day, at a capacity factor of about 40–50%.[7] Net removal, the tonnes delivered to customers after accounting for downtime and process emissions, reached 675 tonnes in the first half of 2026 against 119 tonnes a year earlier.[4]

    The three figures measure different things. The run rate is what a container can capture at peak. Net removal is what is actually stored after maintenance, weather, plant availability and “grey” emissions from operations and storage.[8] The capacity factor links the two. The upgraded results so far come from two containers that had run with the new sorbent and mechanical changes for more than six months.[9] Set against a nameplate of up to 36,000 tonnes a year, 675 tonnes in six months shows how far the plant remains from full output.[2][4]

    Roll-out plan

    Climeworks says it will extend the new sorbent and mechanical upgrades to all 12 collector containers in one Mammoth plant module by the end of 2026, and begin testing its next-generation technology at Mammoth at the start of 2027.[10] These are company plans, not results.

    The company also reports a tenfold improvement in sorbent lifetime in the lab and a fourfold improvement in process density for its next-generation technology; these figures have not been independently verified.[11]

    Goals and context

    In 2024 Climeworks framed Mammoth as a step toward megaton-scale capacity by 2030 and gigaton scale by 2050.[12] Climeworks is part of Project Cypress, one of the two large US DAC hubs, designed to remove 1 million tonnes a year in Louisiana. In March 2026 E&E News reported that early work had stalled amid uncertainty over the hub’s federal award.[13] Funding was reported preserved in April 2026, though only an initial $50 million had been paid out.[14][15] Its business depends on buyers of durable removal, a market in which Microsoft held 78.5% of disclosed tonnes as of April 2026.[16] Microsoft’s purchases since its reported pause have gone to other methods.[17][18] The largest planned DAC plant, Occidental’s 500,000-tonne STRATOS in Texas, is now expected to start operating in 2027.[19][20]

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    Questions readers ask

    How much CO2 does Mammoth actually remove?

    Mammoth produced 675 tonnes of net removal in the first half of 2026, up from 119 tonnes a year earlier, against a nameplate capacity of up to 36,000 tonnes a year.[4][2]

    Why is Mammoth below capacity?

    Climeworks says it spent 18 months prioritising performance and cost upgrades over output; upgraded collector containers now reach their design run rate of 1.37 tonnes per day.[7][5]

    What is Climeworks' long-term goal?

    In 2024 the company described Mammoth as a step toward megaton-scale capacity by 2030 and gigaton scale by 2050.[12]

    What comes next at Mammoth?

    Climeworks says it will bring the upgrades to all 12 collector containers in one plant module by the end of 2026 and start testing its next-generation technology at Mammoth in early 2027.[10]

    Sources

    · 21 claims from 12 publishers

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Tap a number in the text to see its sources in place.

    1. [1]

      Climeworks, headquartered in Zurich, began as a laboratory project at ETH Zurich, built the first commercial direct air capture plant in Switzerland, and then built Orca and Mammoth in Iceland. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    2. [2]

      Climeworks' Mammoth plant at Hellisheiði, Iceland started operations on 8 May 2024, with 12 of its 72 collector containers installed, and has a nameplate capacity of up to 36,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, about ten times its predecessor Orca. confirmedas of 2024-05-08

    3. [3]

      In May 2026 Occidental said STRATOS, first planned to operate by the end of 2024, had hit an unexpected delay from component issues after its core process units performed as expected in testing. E&E News noted the plant is designed for 500,000 tonnes a year, against 36,000 tonnes for the largest DAC plant then operating. confirmedas of 2026-05-07

    4. [4]

      Mammoth produced 675 tonnes of net CO2 removal in the first half of 2026, compared with 119 tonnes in the first half of 2025. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    5. [5]

      On 10 September 2026 Climeworks said sorbent and plant upgrades had more than doubled CO2 capture in upgraded collector containers at Mammoth and cut operating costs per tonne by more than 50%. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    6. [6]

      Direct air capture with storage removed about 0.0015 million tonnes (roughly 1,500 tonnes) of CO2 in 2025, with Climeworks' Orca and Mammoth both still running below full capacity. confirmedas of 2026-06-01

    7. [7]

      Climeworks says its priority at Mammoth over the past 18 months was improving performance, reliability and cost rather than maximising production, and that its two upgraded collector containers now reach the design run rate of 1.37 tonnes of CO2 per day and a capacity factor of around 40–50%. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    8. [8]

      Climeworks defines net CDR production as CO2 permanently removed and stored after accounting for maintenance, weather, plant availability and grey emissions from capture and storage; these are the tonnes delivered to customers. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    9. [9]

      Climeworks said it had run two Mammoth collector containers with the new sorbent and mechanical upgrades for more than six months as of September 2026. confirmedas of 2026-09-10

    10. [10]

      Climeworks says it will extend the new sorbent and mechanical upgrades to all 12 collector containers in one Mammoth plant module by the end of 2026 and begin testing its next-generation technology at Mammoth in early 2027. reportedas of 2026-09-10· forecast

    11. [11]

      Climeworks says its next-generation programme has shown a tenfold improvement in sorbent lifetime in the lab and a fourfold improvement in process densification. reportedas of 2026-09-10

    12. [12]

      In 2024 Climeworks described Mammoth as a step toward megaton-scale removal capacity by 2030 and gigaton scale by 2050. confirmedas of 2024-05-08

    13. [13]

      In March 2026 E&E News reported that preliminary work on Project Cypress, designed to remove 1 million tonnes of CO2 a year in Louisiana, had stalled amid uncertainty over up to $550 million in DOE funding. reportedas of 2026-03-20

    14. [14]

      In April 2026 Carbon Herald reported that the US Department of Energy had kept funding for the two large DAC hubs, Project Cypress in Louisiana (a Heirloom, Climeworks and Battelle partnership) and the South Texas DAC Hub (1PointFive/Occidental), after earlier signals they could be cancelled. reportedas of 2026-04-17

    15. [15]

      Only an initial $50 million tranche had been disbursed to each of the two DAC hubs as of April 2026, against awards of $500 million for the South Texas DAC Hub and $550 million for Project Cypress. reportedas of 2026-04-20

    16. [16]

      Microsoft accounted for 78.5% of all disclosed durable carbon removal tonnes purchased as of April 2026, according to CDR.fyi. confirmedas of 2026-06-12

    17. [17]

      In May 2026, weeks after the reported pause, Microsoft agreed to buy 650,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from BioCirc, which captures CO2 at Danish biogas plants and stores it offshore; Microsoft's chief sustainability officer said its carbon removal programme had not ended. confirmedas of 2026-05-20

    18. [18]

      In August 2026 Microsoft signed a deal with Crew Carbon for up to 23,602 removal units from wastewater alkalinity enhancement, its third removal deal since reports that it was adjusting the pace of purchases, after BioCirc (650,000 tonnes) and enhanced weathering firm Alt Carbon (36,920 tonnes); DatacenterDynamics said its purchasing cadence had dropped significantly in 2026. reportedas of 2026-08-05

    19. [19]

      On 6 August 2026 Occidental CEO Richard Jackson said repair and commissioning of STRATOS trains 3 and 4 was progressing and that full plant commissioning was expected to begin around the end of 2026, with the plant transitioning to operations in 2027 (company statement). confirmedas of 2026-08-06

    20. [20]

      Occidental's 1PointFive STRATOS plant in the Texas Permian Basin is designed to capture up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, with Class VI permits for three wells to store about 722,000 tonnes a year in saline formations. confirmedas of 2026-03-03

    21. [21]

      Frontier is an advance market commitment that aims to accelerate carbon removal technologies by guaranteeing future demand for them. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    Revision history (2)
    1. Page created.
    2. Refresh: added how Climeworks measures net removal, its roll-out plan for late 2026 and 2027, and the stalled-then-preserved Project Cypress hub.

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "Climeworks." ContentLora, updated Oct 10, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/climeworks

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