United Airlines’ sustainable venture fund makes investment in DAC company Heirloom

United Airlines Ventures’ Sustainable Flight Fund has made an investment in direct air capture (DAC) company Heirloom, which is operating North America’s first commercial DAC facility in Tracy, California. The Fund has also entered into an agreement with Heirloom for the right to purchase up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), to be delivered for the production of sustainable aviation fuel or permanently stored underground. Heirloom’s proven and scalable technology accelerates the natural power of limestone to capture CO2 directly from the air, making it potentially one of the lowest cost pathways for removing carbon dioxide, says United. This is United’s third carbon capture investment but the first in a company commercialising DAC technology.

DAC is one of two main forms of carbon capture utilisation and storage, along with point source capture. Unlike point source capture that captures CO2 from a specific emitting source, like a power plant, DAC removes atmospheric CO2, explains the airline.

“Carbon capture is one of our country’s fastest growing, energy enabling pathways,” said Andrew Chang, head of United Airlines Ventures. “At UAV, our primary focus is finding solutions for decarbonisation that are profitable. Heirloom’s technology aligns directly with this objective, offering a scalable and commercially viable approach, and complements United’s commitment to net zero by 2050.”

Limestone is an abundant and inexpensive rock that captures large amounts of CO2 over years in a process known as carbon mineralisation and Heirloom’s technology accelerates this natural process to just days, says the company.

Heirloom was founded in 2020 and its Tracy DAC facility began operations in 2023. It is also part of the team – other members include Battelle and Climeworks – building Project Cypress, a US Department of Energy supported DAC Hub, which is eligible for up to $600 million in government funding and bring large-scale carbon removal to Louisiana, with the creation of nearly 1,000 jobs. The company closed a $150 million Series B financing round in December, which was joined by, amongst others, Japan Airlines.

Commenting on the UAV investment, Shashank Samala, CEO of Heirloom, said: “By utilising DAC as a dual-pronged tool that can both greatly reduce CO2 emissions from aviation fuel and remove residual emissions, we are charting a true path to net zero aviation.”

The UAV Sustainable Flight Fund, comprising more than $200 million of investment commitments from United and a range of corporate partners, is supporting start-ups focused on decarbonising air travel.

Photo (Heirloom): The Heirloom DAC facility in Tracy, California

Christopher Surgenor

Editor

• Linkedin