Spiritus – an innovative climate tech company – recently emerged from stealth mode with a breakthrough in Direct-Air-Capture (DAC) technology. And the company’s approach demonstrates drastically improved fundamentals, leading to reduced costs that move the industry closer to achieving carbon removal at less than $100 per ton. Spiritus raised $11 million in a funding round led by Khosla Ventures and other investors, including Page One Ventures, to further develop and scale the technology.
Spiritus’ solution – using high-quality Direct Air Capture + Sequestration (DAC + S) methods – achieves rapid sorption and desorption rates at a fraction of the sorbent cost versus state-of-the-art sorbents under passive DAC conditions. And Spiritus has innovated on a novel non-TVSA desorption process that cuts energy usage by more than half when compared to current methods, which makes Spiritus’ approach to DAC+S a high-quality and lower-cost option than other carbon removal solutions and offsets.
Spiritus’ solution leverages the unique properties of the Spiritus Sorbent and a novel desorption process to create the Spiritus Carbon Orchard. And the Spiritus Carbon Orchard uses passive air contacting, without needing energy-intensive fans, to bind carbon dioxide to the sorbent, enabling for energy-efficient capture with a modular, scalable design for directly capturing carbon dioxide from the air. And the Spiritus Carbon Orchard circulates the Spiritus Sorbent between passive air contacting and the novel non-TVSA desorption system to remove the carbon dioxide. Aligned with the future of sustainable energy production, the Carbon Orchard operates on renewable energy sources.
With Spiritus combining a novel sorbent and unprecedented desorption solutions and a scalable modular system, the company is launching to optimize key parameters and prove it can achieve low-cost DAC+S. And together, these components lead to a scalable cost of less than $100 per ton removed, a milestone that has been the biggest enduring challenge in the industry.
Spiritus formed a number of strong partnerships with companies looking to address direct air capture challenges and looks forward to announcing them soon.
KEY QUOTES:
“Khosla Ventures has been looking closely at the direct air capture space for years. In Spiritus, we have a combination of a strong approach and team to solve this climate challenge, making it our first investment in the DAC area.”
– Jessy Rivest, partner at Khosla Ventures
“The climate crisis is affecting every aspect of our lives, from the fires raging across our nation to the record temperatures we’re experiencing. Our unique combination of the Spiritus Sorbent and our Carbon Orchard has allowed us to get closer to an industry milestone: making DAC a practical and affordable solution for carbon removal. By achieving a scalable cost that aligns with what the world needs, we can enable countries, companies, and individuals to create a carbon-neutral future. It’s a game-changing moment for our planet.”
– Charles Cadieu, CEO and co-founder of Spiritus
