# DAC’s bumpy road to commercial scale

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2024-10-03
- Length: 40m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale

## Summary

Andreas Aepli, CFO of Climeworks, discusses the operational and financial challenges of scaling direct-air capture (DAC) technology, drawing on lessons from their Orca and Mammoth plants. He details specific technical hurdles like supply chain quality fluctuations, extreme weather impacts, and CO2 purity requirements that delayed reaching full capacity. Aepli also explains Climeworks' strategy of raising large equity rounds to de-risk technology before transitioning to project finance, and outlines the evolving buyer landscape dominated by Microsoft and the need for long-term, indexed contracts to ensure bankability.

## Chapters

- [4:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale#t=270) Climeworks History and Capital Formation
- [10:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale#t=636) Operational Challenges at Orca
- [20:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale#t=1208) DAC Market Growth and Buyers
- [25:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale#t=1502) Pricing and Contract Structures
- [34:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale#t=2067) Project Finance and Future Outlook

## Topics

- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Climeworks (company)
- Orca (product)
- Mammoth (product)
- Microsoft (company)
- JP Morgan (company)
- UBS (company)
- EnergyHub (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [HIBT Lab! Climeworks: Jan Wurzbacher](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-30-hibt-lab-climeworks-jan-wurzbacher) (How I Built This)
- [ICYMI... HIBT Lab! Climeworks: Jan Wurzbacher](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-30-icymi-hibt-lab-climeworks-jan-wurzbacher) (How I Built This)
- [Scalability, Sustainability, and Cost Efficiency in Direct Air Capture (DAC) for CO2 Removal with Julian Turecek of AspiraDAC](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-10-26-scalability-sustainability-and-cost-efficiency-in-direct-air-capture-dac-for-co2) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Nurturing Deep Tech Startups to Address Climate Change: A Conversation with Andrew Gollach of HAX](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-12-21-nurturing-deep-tech-startups-to-address-climate-change-a-conversation-with-andre) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Fostering a Circular Carbon Economy with Direct Air Capture: Insights from Rob van Straten of Skytree](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-11-21-fostering-a-circular-carbon-economy-with-direct-air-capture-insights-from-rob-va) (Hardware to Save a Planet)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.