# Building a decarbonization army with Shashank Samala of Heirloom

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2024-02-08
- Length: 27m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom

## Summary

Shashank Samala, co-founder and CEO of Heirloom, explains how his company built North America’s first operational direct air capture facility in Tracy, California, using a novel limestone-based process to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Samala details the technical approach of baking limestone into calcium oxide to create 'trays' that absorb CO2, contrasting this with expensive synthetic materials used by competitors like Climeworks. He discusses the business model, noting that Heirloom sells carbon removal credits to major corporations like Microsoft, Stripe, and Meta, aiming to scale production to 1 million tons per year by leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act’s 45Q tax credits. The episode covers Heirloom’s journey from a garage-stage startup to scaling production, highlighting their goal to build 1,000 facilities globally to remove 1 billion tons of CO2 annually by the 2030s.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=0) Introduction: Shashank Samala and Heirloom's Mission
- [1:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=111) Samala's Background at Tempo Automation and Carbon 180
- [4:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=252) The Necessity of Carbon Removal and Hard-to-Abate Sectors
- [7:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=445) Heirloom's Limestone Technology vs. Synthetic Materials
- [15:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=954) Business Model: Selling Credits to Microsoft, Stripe, and Meta
- [20:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=1221) The Tracy Facility: Capacity, Modular Design, and Storage
- [23:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=1426) Scaling to 1 Million Tons and the Louisiana Hub
- [27:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-02-08-building-a-decarbonization-army-with-shashank-samala-of-heirloom#t=1625) Global Expansion Plans and 2030 Goals

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Heirloom (company)
- Shashank Samala (other)
- Tempo Automation (company)
- Carbon 180 (company)
- Climeworks (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- Stripe (company)
- Meta (company)
- Boston Consulting Group (company)
- Department of Energy (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [A Sustainable Approach to Direct Air Capture with Noah McQueen, Head of Research & Co-Founder of Heirloom](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2022-07-07-a-sustainable-approach-to-direct-air-capture-with-noah-mcqueen-head-of-research) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Using Cooling Towers to Scale Atmospheric CO2 Removal with Silvain Toromanoff, Co-Founder and CTO of NeoCarbon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-06-08-using-cooling-towers-to-scale-atmospheric-co2-removal-with-silvain-toromanoff-co) (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)
- [Moving the Needle on Decarbonizing Eight Gigatons of Atmospheric CO2 by 2050 with Luke Shors, Co-Founder Capture6](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-05-25-moving-the-needle-on-decarbonizing-eight-gigatons-of-atmospheric-co2-by-2050-wit) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [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)

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