In September 2022, Climeworks, a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) via direct air capture (DAC) technology, announced plans to scale up in the United States. The company now outlines its intent to engage in several large-scale DAC projects over the next few years, with the potential to create thousands of direct U.S. jobs in the process.
To accelerate deployment in the U.S., Climeworks has applied to participate in three hubs as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) "Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs" program with proposed locations in Louisiana, California, and the Northern Great Plains – each with a pathway towards megaton capacity by 2030. The company will lend its expertise and technology alongside some of America’s leading CO₂ storage and energy infrastructure organizations and fellow DAC companies to bring large-scale commercial DAC deployments to life in the country.
Since its founding in 2009, Climeworks has honed the technological and operational expertise necessary to lead the next phase of the CDR industry in America. Currently, Climeworks has:
Today, Climeworks has a growing team on the ground in the U.S. with plans to hire over a hundred employees in the near term adding to its European workforce of more than 300. Open positions span commercialization, supply chain, engineering, finance, project management and project development teams, and include key positions such as U.S. Head of Commercial, Project Director and Supply Chain Category leads.
By 2030, Climeworks estimates that thousands of direct jobs could emerge from the Regional DAC Hubs’ project applications that the company participates in, harnessing and advancing the existing skills and knowledge of local workforces. They would include hundreds of positions in project management & execution and operations as well as over a thousand in construction and manufacturing. Based on Climeworks’ estimates, the hubs could moreover have a cascading economic effect, creating tens of thousands of indirect and induced jobs along the supply chain and in complementary industries, depending on factors such as DOE funding, permitting and supply chain development.
From the planning and construction of DAC projects to the operations and impact once deployed, Climeworks is committed to ensuring the needs and concerns of the communities are addressed at every step of the deployment process. Alongside project partners, Climeworks has already begun working with community stakeholders in all three potential hub regions as a means of identifying and soliciting feedback from the beginning of potential project buildout.