Prometheus has operated the world’s only commercial-scale DAC prototype for more than four years. That system is actively producing e-fuels at the company’s Titan Forge Alpha pilot plant today. Prometheus’ new 200-ton-per-year DAC system currently under construction is scheduled for completion this year.
The system captures CO2 directly from ambient air into water and feeds it into the company’s patented Faraday Reactor for immediate conversion into fuel. This streamlined approach bypasses traditional gas purification, compression, absorption and desorption, and costly infrastructure, dramatically reducing both energy use and capital requirements.
“Low-cost DAC unlocks the best solar locations, far away from point sources of CO2,” said Rob McGinnis, founder and CEO of Prometheus. “By developing a new low-cost DAC technology, along with our hydrocarbon electrolysis Faraday Reactor, we’ve brought carbon capture below $50 a ton and made truly affordable e-fuels possible for the first time.”
Most DAC systems cost between $200 and $600 per ton of CO2 captured, making it virtually impossible to produce synthetic fuels that compete with fossil fuel prices. Prometheus’ breakthrough slashes that cost by more than 80 percent, offering the first commercially viable model for scalable, carbon neutral fuel production.
Unlike conventional e-fuel approaches that rely on smokestacks or bio-derived CO2, Prometheus’ modular, off-grid system gives it full geographic and economic flexibility. By decoupling fuel production from traditional carbon sources, Prometheus can site its systems wherever renewable electricity is cheapest, and inexpensively transport liquid fuels anywhere in the world.
“This isn’t just a scientific breakthrough, it’s a whole new business model,” added McGinnis. “When you combine ultra-low-cost DAC with modular, off-grid electrochemical fuel production, you open up access to remote, off-grid solar – the cheapest source of energy on the planet – making it available anywhere in the world as a new low-cost source of 24/7, firm, dispatchable, carbon neutral power.”
The company’s DAC costs and fuel economics were independently validated by Ramboll, a global engineering firm, in a detailed techno-economic analysis of Prometheus’ full production process.