# Using Cooling Towers to Scale Atmospheric CO2 Removal with Silvain Toromanoff, Co-Founder and CTO of NeoCarbon

- Show: [Hardware to Save a Planet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet)
- Published: 2023-06-08
- Length: 45m
- Episode: 28
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co
- Listen: https://podcasts.fame.so/e/68rzq238-silvain-toromanoff-scalable-and-efficient-dac-removal

## Summary

Silvain Toromanoff, Co-Founder and CTO of NeoCarbon, explains how his company uses waste heat from existing cooling towers to power Direct Air Capture (DAC), aiming to scale atmospheric CO2 removal efficiently. He details the technical challenges of their vacuum temperature swing reactor, the business model of selling units to utilization customers like breweries, and the strategic decision to leverage existing industrial infrastructure rather than building new plants. Toromanoff also discusses the supply chain difficulties faced by early-stage hardware startups and the ambitious goal of reaching megaton-scale removal by 2030.

## Chapters

- [0:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=3) Introduction: Silvain Toromanoff and NeoCarbon
- [1:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=112) Berlin's Climate Tech Ecosystem and Funding
- [3:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=222) Toromanoff's Career Switch to Climate Tech
- [5:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=313) Finding NeoCarbon's Angle: Retrofitting Cooling Towers
- [8:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=484) The Technology: Leveraging Waste Heat for DAC
- [12:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=752) Energy Budgets: Heat vs. Electricity and Efficiency Targets
- [18:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=1086) Business Model: Utilization, Sequestration, and Licensing
- [28:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=1714) Hardware Details: The 5-Ton/Year Prototype and Reactor Design
- [33:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=1986) Scaling Challenges: Supply Chain and Development vs. Scale
- [38:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co#t=2312) Optimism, Community, and Advice for Aspiring Climate Entrepreneurs

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- NeoCarbon (company)
- Climeworks (company)
- Noya (company)
- Orca Plant (product)
- CDR at FYI (other)

## 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)
- [Building a decarbonization army with Shashank Samala of Heirloom](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom) (How I Built This)
- [DAC’s bumpy road to commercial scale](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-10-03-dacs-bumpy-road-to-commercial-scale) (Catalyst)
- [The challenges of building a carbon removal portfolio](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-29-the-challenges-of-building-a-carbon-removal-portfolio) (Catalyst)

## Citing this page

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