How U.S. Department of Energy awardees are shaping the future of carbon management innovation
American leadership in the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) space was not an accident. It was the result of precise alignment between vast land resources, a robust energy infrastructure, investment appetite and bipartisan, innovation-driven policy, all met with historic federal funding.
However, the 'American Advantage' is not guaranteed. As global investment in carbon removal accelerates, other regions are moving quickly to attract capital, talent, and project development. Continued leadership will depend not only on innovation, but on providing the policy clarity and implementation consistency needed to scale projects from early progress to commercial deployment.
The U.S. has pioneered a model of bipartisan support for enabling carbon management policy frameworks like the 45Q tax credit, which is helping to keep the path to commercialization open for U.S.-based companies. States are increasingly exploring what carbon management could look like for their local economies, communities and infrastructure. And Fiscal Year 2026 spending bills allocated $45 million for CDR across four different pathways. However, inflation, rising energy demand, and evolving policy signals have created uncertainty about the pace of deployment in the U.S. Recent signals that DOE will maintain funding for several carbon removal projects reinforce the importance of consistent follow-through to ensure these early investments translate into operational facilities.
Many innovators leading the field in the U.S., Canada, the European Union and other regions are among the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Purchase Pilot Prize and Carbon Negative Shot Prize awardees. A survey of their achievements just over the past few months shows companies securing financing, advancing their technologies and integrating their projects into key industries, including agriculture, waste management and energy production.
The American CDR sector remains a fixture of the industrial landscape, hitting quiet technical milestones and securing strategic private wins through a network of dedicated innovation incubators. However, additional public sector leadership is essential for CDR to reach its maximum potential. Public policy provides confidence to investors, corporate buyers, and banks to scale the sector. Federal programs like DOE’s Prizes can unlock even more of this potential in the U.S., cementing American leadership in technological innovation and building a global industry along the way. Continued implementation of these Congressionally-authorized programs will be important to ensure early progress translates into commercial deployment in the United States.
Below, we highlight a range of DOE awardees across each major CDR pathway and how they are proving carbon removal’s potential – in many cases internationally, due to delays in the U.S. funding they have been promised. The completion of the CDR Purchase Pilot Prize and Carbon Negative Shot would be catalytic to delivering CDR’s full economic benefits across the U.S.
Direct Air Capture (DAC)
Avnos secured $17 million in financing for Project Cedar, its U.S.-based flagship project, from Shell U.S. Gas and Power, LLC and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) to advance its Hybrid DAC approach that produces clean water as a co-product, fortifying its path to commercialization.
True North Carbon, the Canadian subsidiary of CarbonCapture Inc., announced that its Tamarack DAC Project achieved its first capture of carbon dioxide in October 2025.
Climeworks recently unveiled its Direct Air Capture Innovation Center in Switzerland; established its Canadian headquarters in Calgary; is expanding its DAC deployment collaboration with Saudi Arabia; and surpassed $1 billion in investor funding in 2025.
Heirloom Carbonsecured investment from the Development Bank of Japan and Chiyoda Corporation to advance the company’s DAC and carbon mineralization technologies.
Recently acquired by Oxy, 1PointFive’s STRATOS direct air capture project has signed offtake agreements with Bain & Company, JPMorganChase and Palo Alto Networks.
Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage
Arbor recently raised a $55 million Series A funding round to support the deployment of its clean energy technologies, and HALCYON, its commercial power system, is on track to come online by 2028.
Carba raised a $6 million investment round in December 2025 to advance its technology and commercial development at its Burnsville, Minnesota project site, and expansion into Asia.
Carbon Lockdown’s ongoing biomass storage project in the Chesapeake Bay watershed aims to bury woody biomass otherwise destined for mulch, burning, or decomposition in a wood vault equivalent to 5000 metric tons of CO2 removal.
Charm Industrial recently signed offtake agreements with Boeing and TD Bank, representing nearly 150,000 metric tons of removals.
Graphyte removed 11,000 metric tons of CO2 in 2025 and was just named to TIME’s 2026 Top GreenTech Companies list.
Mote raised a $7 million investment round in March 2025 and was recently selected to join the 2026 cohort of the ACORE Accelerate Program to advance its carbon‑negative hydrogen and carbon capture solutions, and is establishing an Advanced Testing Center in California.
Vaulted Deep signed a major offtake agreement with Microsoft to deliver up to 4.9 million metric tons of durable carbon dioxide removal over 12 years through its waste management infrastructure, and was just named the 3rd most innovative company in North America by Fast Company.
Enhanced Weathering
CREW just announced a new partnership with Hampton Roads Sanitation District to deploy its alkalinity enhancement technology at two wastewater treatment facilities in Virginia.
Eion, acquired by Terradot, is contributing its project footprint, operating capabilities, and carbon removal contracts to the company. Their combined platform now represents one of the largest contracted portfolios of enhanced weathering offtake in the market.
Lithos delivered 5,160 registry-certified tons of carbon dioxide removal in 2025, with credits generated through partnerships with farmers around the U.S.
Mati Carbon won the $50 million XPrize Carbon Removal Grand Prize in 2025, selected from among roughly 1,300 initial competitors from over 88 countries, and secured a 5,000 metric ton pre-purchase offtake agreement with Shopify.
Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
Ebb Carbon piloted ocean alkalinity enhancement and desalination research at its Project Macoma site, hosting teams from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and multiple universities to conduct studies to advance the field. The company just launched a partnership with the Saudi Water Authority, the world's largest desalination owner and operator.
Equatic signed an MOU with Boeing and SEDC Energy (SEDCE) to develop a seawater-based carbon removal demonstration facility, which will showcase how Equatic’s technology removes CO₂ while producing green hydrogen and minerals.
Vycarb is piloting its system to capture and permanently store CO2 using ocean-based chemistry and real-time sensor technology in the East River in Brooklyn. The company recently raised $5 million in funding, partnered with industrial CO2 management company Tomco Systems, and expanded its partnership with ocean climate solutions monitoring company at depth to further develop the testing and verification of its technologies.
