The world's first gigafactory dedicated to producing commercial-scale carbon capture and removal filters designed to trap CO2 directly from industrial emissions and the atmosphere has opened, with high-volume automation and product standardisation to lower the manufacturing cost.
The Redwood Facility spans 141,000 square feet and is equipped to manufacture enough solid sorbent-based filters to capture up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 annually, equivalent to the emissions of more than 27 million cars. Svante's patented structured sorbent filters, coated with metal-organic framework (MOF), represent a next-generation solution for managing industrial carbon emissions.
"Today, we are making history," said Claude Letourneau, President & CEO of Svante. "This gigafactory is a critical step forward in building the infrastructure necessary to scale up the carbon management industry and to build a marketplace for physical CO2. This first-of-a-kind manufacturing facility is a demonstration of what's possible when technology and climate ambition align to lend nature a hand in managing global CO2 emissions."
Svante is currently focusing on biogenic carbon dioxide removal (CDR) sectors like pulp and paper, ethanol production, and waste-to-energy, where carbon concentrations in post-combustion flue gas are higher, and capture costs are lower to generate CDR credits. Capturing the emissions from other industries, such as cement, steel, and fossil fuels, is an essential part of a sustainable energy transition, and the commissioning of Redwood shows that Svante is stepping up to the challenge.
Letourneau added, "We're also proud to launch this transformative manufacturing facility in Canada, which allows us to bring the supply chain to our shores and bring carbon management solutions closer to the needs of emitting industries in North America."
The facility's launch follows a US $145 million capital investment and is supported by a roster of strategic investors, including Chevron New Energies, Temasek, M&G, Canada Growth Fund, United Airlines Ventures, Samsung, GE Vernova, and more. Svante anticipates the need for additional gigafactories like Redwood in the next decade to keep pace with global carbon management market demand.
Svante’s technology is already powering several major carbon capture pilot projects, including installations at Chevron’s Kern River asset in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Additionally, its earlier work with Lafarge Holcim on Project CO2MENT continues to demonstrate effective carbon capture at Lafarge’s Richmond Cement Plant in British Columbia, Canada. In addition to serving the post-combustion or “point source” carbon capture market, Svante also manufactures filters for the leading direct air capture company, Climeworks, as part of their latest Gen 3 DAC technology, which Climeworks says cuts the cost of regenerative energy in half and doubles the CO2 capture volumetric capacity.