Carbon Engineering's DAC system integrates two main cycles. The first cycle is the absorption of CO₂ from the atmosphere in a device called an "air contactor" using an alkaline hydroxide solution,^[5][12] via patents such as US20140271379A1 and US20150329369A1. The second cycle regenerates the capture liquid used in the air contactor, and delivers pure CO₂ as an end product.^[13][12][14] These cycles operate in tandem continuously, producing a concentrated stream of CO₂ gas as an output, and requiring only energy, water, and small material make up streams as inputs. Energy is used in such a way that no new CO₂ emissions are incurred, and thus do not counteract what was captured from the air.^{[citation needed][15]} The captured atmospheric CO₂ can be stored underground, used for enhanced oil recovery, or turned into low-carbon synthetic fuels using the company's "air to fuel" technology.^[9][15][3]

Carbon Engineering's air to fuel process can produce fuels such as gasoline, diesel, or jet A using inputs of atmospheric CO₂, water, and renewable electricity such as that from solar panels. Electricity is used to split water (by electrolysis) and manufacture hydrogen, which is then combined with captured atmospheric CO₂ to form fuels.^[16] This approach offers a means to deliver clean fuels that are compatible with existing engines, and can help de-carbonize the transportation sector by displacing fuels made from crude oil.

In 2015, Carbon Engineering started operations of its full end-to-end pilot plant, located in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. When running, this facility captures roughly 1 ton of atmospheric CO₂ per day.^[9] In 2017, the company incorporated fuel synthesis capability into the DAC pilot plant and converted CO₂ into fuel for the first time in December 2017.

Based on the data obtained from the pilot plant, Keith and colleagues published an article in 2018 that presents a simulation suggesting that CO₂ can be captured from the atmosphere at a cost of between US$94 to US$233 per ton, "depending on financial assumptions, energy costs, and the specific choice of inputs and outputs".^[17]

Both DAC and air to fuel technologies have been proven at the pilot plant and are now being scaled up into commercial markets. Individual DAC facilities can be built to capture 1 million tons of CO₂ per year.^[18] At that scale, one Carbon Engineering air capture plant could negate the emissions from ~250,000 cars—either by sequestering the CO₂ or by using the recycled carbon dioxide as a feedstock to produce synthetic fuel.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2019, Carbon Engineering announced it was partnering with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC. (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, to design and engineer a large-scale DAC plant capable of capturing 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air each year, which would be used in OLCV's enhanced oil recovery operations and subsequently stored underground permanently.^[19][20] Located in the Permian Basin, construction for the plant is expected to begin in 2022,^[21] with operations targeted for 2024.^[22] In September 2019, Carbon Engineering announced they were expanding the capacity of the design of the plant from 500,000 tonnes to an expected one million tonnes of CO₂ captured per year.^[20] In August 2023, it was announced Occidental Petroleum had acquired all the outstanding equity of Carbon Engineering for $1.1 billion.

• Official website
• "How One Company Pulls Carbon From The Air, Aiming To Avert A Climate Catastrophe" December 10, 2018 NPR.org
• Katie Brigham: Bill Gates and Big Oil back this company that’s trying to solve climate change by sucking CO2 out of the air, CNBC, 22 June 2019

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