Phlair

We signed $30M in offtake agreements with Frontier buyers. Between 2027–2030, Phlair will deliver 47,000 tCO2 to Stripe, Google, Shopify, McKinsey & Company, Autodesk, H&M Group, Workday, and Salesforce. Aledade Inc, Canva, Match Group, Samsara, SKIMS, Skyscanner, Wise, and Zendesk have also participated in the offtake via Watershed’s partnership with Frontier. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? This deal marks Frontier’s first electrochemical direct air capture (DAC) offtake and its first offtake with a non-US DAC company. It is also the first ever multimillion $ deal for a German DAC company. This puts Germany and Phlair on the map in a highly competitive industry. The offtake enables us to build our first commercial DAC facility, Dawn, from which the credits will be delivered. The plant will have a removal capacity of 20,000 tCO2/year, will be located in Alberta, Canada, and will be the first ever DAC facility powered by behind-the-meter solar. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲? DAC’s currently high price tag, is driven by two main factors: 1️⃣ OPEX: The amount of energy required and high electricity costs 2️⃣ CAPEX: Bespoke equipment and unscaled supply chains 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗔𝗖, 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝟮 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀: 1️⃣ Low energy and cheap electricity costs: Our process has the potential to be highly energy efficient. More importantly the technology is load-flexible, meaning it can follow the production curve of intermittent renewables like solar, eliminating the need for otherwise expensive battery storage. This enables the sourcing of clean, low-cost electricity. 2️⃣ Lower CAPEX: While the design of our core technology, the Hydrolyzer, is novel, it relies on industrially scaled components. This allows us to tap into existing supply chains and achieve lower manufacturing costs. Thanks to Frontier and the whole Phlair team for making this deal possible. Thanks to all buyers for their trust and conviction. Phlair. Love is in the air. Frauke Kracke, Daniel Kroupa, Hannah Bebbington, Nan Ransohoff, David Vranicar, Mitchel Selby, Jamila Yamani, Erik Hansen, Randy Spock, Michael Terrell, Mikael Blommé, David Dahl, Lauren Mechak, Joe Speicher, Louis Mark, Amberlyn Saw, Michael Steffen

On March 6th, we will host the third edition of our quarterly Circle of CDR, co-hosted by Orbium Climate Partners. Our guests will get an exclusive tour of our pilot plant Electra 00, Bavaria’s first Direct Air Capture plant. In a panel discussion, existing buyers Shopify (David Vranicar) and Klarna (Alexander Farsan), as well as Brian O'Malley (former Head of Sustainability at Adyen) will share how they built an internal business case for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Our invite-only Circle of CDR events offer a great opportunity to connect with other decision makers and sustainability professionals, and to get a look behind the scenes of Phlair. Sign up here, if you would like to be considered for our next Circle of CDR: https://lnkd.in/dB5F-KHx Phlair. Love is in the air.

Will flying with e-fuels be the lowest cost solution to decarbonize aviation? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: The need for air travel and transport continues, but emissions from aviation are close to 1 Gt of CO2 per year (around 2% of global emissions) and will be hard to abate. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻: To reach net-zero flights, an analysis by Robert Höglund and Sandilya Sivaraju (link in comments) suggests a lower-cost alternative to electrofuels (e-fuels): the combination of conventional fuels with permanent carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The key driver for the different price tag is the high electricity requirement for the production of (green) hydrogen needed for e-fuels. ⚡ Using e-fuels to power just one-third of all flights would need a huge amount of electricity - over 2,500 TWh per year (that's 10% of all electricity used worldwide). 🛢️+💨 Meanwhile, using regular fuel and removing the emitted CO2 from the air (i.e. using direct air carbon capture and storage, DACCS) would only require around 410 TWh of electricity. 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀: Bio-jet fuels tend to cost less than e-fuels, but limited feedstock availability severely restricts their potential to replace traditional jet fuel. Current aviation decarbonization plans focus mainly on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), with very limited CDR use. IATA's roadmap targets 100% SAF adoption, using CDR only for residual emissions. The EU mandates SAF usage of 2% by 2025, rising to 70% by 2050. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸? Which pathway to decarbonizing aviation (e.g. e-fuels, conventional fuel + CDR, electrification) do you think makes the most sense? Phlair. Love is in the air.

"Just a year and a half ago, it was me and the three founders working out of co-working spaces and a small lab, planning a 1-ton CO2/year test stand. Now, we've grown to over 30 people in our own building, working on a plant with 20,000 times the capacity." A Phlair, Kristin’s work spans from sorbent development for our absorber to designing and building our first outdoor pilot plant. She also loves taking care of the company’s (green) plants. Although Kristin never cared much for art in school, she’s always eager to perfect her latte art on our portafilter coffee machine. Phlair. Love is in the air.

Fredrik Hedlund joins Phlair as independent Board Member. We're excited to welcome Fredrik to our Board and build on his unique experience of what it means to scale an energy company in Europe. Fredrik has been part of building Northvolt from 10 to 5000+ employees, with leading roles in strategy and expansion, manufacturing plants and cell operations. There are very few people who have experienced what it takes to build up a new industry, and have the learnings from a company’s trajectory from zero to 10B+ in funding and 50B+ in offtakes in just 7 years. Over the last days, Fredrik has connected with our team and started sharing his expertise to take Phlair to the next level. Welcome on board (quite literally), Fredrik! Phlair. Love is in the air.

Why are high-emitting industries not yet buying carbon removal credits? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:  So far, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) purchases are dominated by three industries:  1) Tech (e.g. Microsoft, Google, Shopify, Amazon)  2) Banking/Finance (e.g. Morgan Stanley, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Stripe, Klarna, Swiss Re)  3) Consulting (e.g. BCG, McKinsey)  To understand why, we need to look at 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗢𝟮 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 – how much profit companies earn for every ton they emit.  𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:  Carbon Gap (link in comments) analyzed >150 Forbes 2000 companies by profit per ton of emissions and found:  1) There are vast disparities in profits per ton (ranging from over $200,000/t to less than $10/t)  2) Companies with profits below $100/t (materials, utilities, oil & gas) cause 90% of emissions but earn only 25% of profits.  3) High-profit companies (over $10,000/t, like banking and insurance) account for 30% of profits but emit just 0.1% of emissions.  4) For high-profit companies, achieving net zero is financially viable. Even offsetting 100% of their emissions with high-quality CO2 removals at $200/t would reduce profits by less than 1%.  𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁:  Many tech companies and banks are already purchasing carbon removal credits, demonstrating thought leadership and catalyzing market development for the entire industry.  These companies take a long-term view and want to sustain their competitive advantage. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸:  Which industry will lead the next wave of carbon removal purchases?

"I strive to amplify my impact on the future of Direct Air Capture. Leading a student association, I developed a capture and storage technology for CO2.” At Phlair, Adrian has driven the development and optimization of our first outdoor pilot plant (Electra 00) near Munich, demonstrating our full scale Hydrolyzer. He loves challenging and improving the processes being used in our commercial plants. Adrian has always loved to take things apart and to understand how they work: After school he built a 3D printer to make parts for his DIY vacuum dryer to dry apples. Phlair. Enabling a carbon-negative future.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to our customers, partners, investors, and team for making 2024 such an incredible year. Love is in the air. Phlair.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Verena Pausder, Chairwoman of Startup-Verband (German Startups Association). During her visit, we toured her through our labs, introduced her to our unique hydrolyzer-based Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, and showcased our pilot plant, Electra 00. Our discussions covered crucial topics such as access to growth capital – with a focus on non-dilutive funding – regulatory challenges, strategies for attracting top talent, and Verena’s insights from working with the many Deep Tech startups within the Startup-Verband. Phlair. Enabling a carbon-negative future. 

Some highlights from our first Phlair offsite last weekend: Our chemists are amazing cooks - even outside the lab 🧑🔬 Ice bathing in December is a real bonding experience. No worries, we had a lifeguard 🛟 During our hackathon, we worked on our vision for the Phlair campus. We want to build the perfect environment for achieving our ambitious scale-up plans 🏙️ Want to be part of our next offsite and work at the forefront of solving one of humanity's biggest challenges? Have a look at our careers page. We're hiring. Phlair. Enabling a carbon-negative future. PS. Thanks to d’Kammer for the amazing experience at their location in Allgäu, Bavaria!