Direct Air Capture Market Size, Share & Growth Forecast (2026-2031)

The Direct Air Capture Market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 30.0%, reaching USD 1,335.2 million in 2031 from USD 360.1 million in 2026.

Direct air capture technology involves sweeping the ambient air over a material that is highly selective for CO2 molecules, which after binding to the capture material, are released in a purified state that can be used for geological sequestration, mineralization, or to be converted to synthetic fuels and other carbon-based products, usually via applied heat. The two main technology approaches that are currently prevailing in the market are solid sorbent-based DAC (S-DAC) and liquid solvent-based DAC (L-DAC).

The highest share of the global market is in North America, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Regional DAC Hubs program, the 45Q tax credit, and California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, with a strong ecosystem of leading DAC technology developers such as Global Thermostat, Heirloom Carbon Technologies and 1PointFive (Occidental Petroleum). Europe has the second largest regional market share with the Swiss headquarters of Climeworks and Mammoth in Iceland, and while the Asia-Pacific region is currently a smaller market, it is projected to expand at a faster pace as governments in the region start to integrate carbon removal into their broader net zero goals.

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

• Net Zero commitments by corporate leaders and carbon-emission reducing country pledges: More than 140 corporate and carbon-emission-producing countries have made pledges to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century, giving DAC developers the certainty of revenue in the future for building large scale plants.

• There are potential capital and revenue opportunities for DAC project development through government funding, tax incentive programs, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, the 45Q tax credit, and California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, in addition to other policy architectures gaining traction in the European Union and elsewhere.

• Low carbon feedback loop of renewable energy integration to reduce energy input costs for DAC: DAC facilities are increasingly designed to operate using renewable electricity generated in the same facility or nearby wind and solar generation, which not only reduces the net carbon footprint of DAC operations but also reduces energy input costs compared to grid electricity.

Market Restraints & Opportunities

• The high cost of capital and energy is the key obstacle to a more significant scale up of DAC, as industry experts calculate that the price will need to drop at least 50% over the coming decade if the technology is going to be viable at the gigaton scale necessary to have a meaningful impact on climate.

• However, the industry is moving beyond the pilot project era of the 1990s and early 2000s, as several developers are announcing million tonne per year facility targets. As renewable energy technology scales up towards the commercial market, continued cost reduction in renewable energy technologies, government funding for hub-scale initiatives, and the development of the CO2 transport, conditioning, and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) infrastructure are significant opportunities in the long run.

Key Developments

• March 2026: Aircapture, a pioneer in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, and California craft beer brewery Almanac Beer Co. announced the launch of Flow, Clean Air Edition (Flow – CAE), the world's first beer carbonated using CO? captured from the atmosphere through onsite DAC. Installed at Almanac's brewery in Alameda, California, Aircapture's modular DAC unit pulls carbon dioxide from ambient air and delivers beverage-grade liquid CO? (99.999% purity, significantly exceeding industry standard specifications) directly into the brewing process.

Market Segmentation

The market is segmented by technology, capture mechanism, application, and geography.

By Technology: Solid Sorbent-Based DAC (S-DAC)

Solid sorbent-based DAC holds the largest technology revenue share, using solid chemical sorbents to selectively bind CO2 from ambient air before a heating step releases the captured gas in concentrated, purified form.

Climeworks operates Solid-DAC technology powered by renewable energy, energy-from-waste, or other waste heat sources, and operates the Mammoth facility in Iceland alongside its Carbfix partnership for geological CO2 mineralization storage.

Heirloom Carbon Technologies develops solid sorbent-based direct air capture technology and has established commercial partnerships, including with CarbonCure, to integrate captured CO2 into building materials and other carbon-utilization applications.

By Capture Mechanism: Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA)

Temperature swing adsorption represents a leading capture-mechanism technology within solid sorbent DAC systems, using cyclical heating and cooling to alternately capture and release CO2 from the sorbent material.

Carbon Engineering (Oxy) develops large-scale DAC technology and has partnered with 1PointFive, an Occidental Petroleum subsidiary, to construct and operate commercial-scale direct air capture facilities in the United States.

By Application: Direct Storage

Direct storage, involving geological sequestration of captured CO2, is the second-largest and fastest-growing application segment, growing significantly as sequestration infrastructure and permitting capacity scale alongside DAC capture capacity.

Carbon Clean Solutions is advancing commercial-scale DAC plant construction in the United States, targeting large annual CO2 capture volumes as part of the broader industry shift from pilot projects to gigaton-scale ambitions.

Regional Analysis

North America Market Analysis

North America dominates the global market with a significant regional revenue share underpinned by the U.S. Department of Energy's Regional DAC Hubs program, the 45Q tax credit, California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and a dense concentration of leading DAC developers.

Europe Market Analysis

Europe holds the second-largest regional share, anchored by Switzerland-headquartered Climeworks and its large-scale Mammoth facility in Iceland, alongside growing regional policy support for carbon removal within broader EU climate frameworks.

Asia-Pacific Market Analysis

Asia-Pacific represents a smaller but growing share of the global market, with regional governments increasingly incorporating direct air capture into broader net-zero and carbon-removal strategies as the technology matures.

Middle East and Africa Market Analysis

The Middle East and Africa are seeing early-stage engagement with direct air capture technology, including exploratory large-scale project development partnerships aimed at leveraging the region's renewable energy resources and geological storage potential.

South America Market Analysis

South America represents an emerging market for direct air capture, with growing interest in pairing the region's renewable energy resources with carbon-removal project development.

List of Companies

• Climeworks AG

• 1PointFive (Occidental Petroleum)

• Carbon Engineering (Oxy)

• Global Thermostat

• Heirloom Carbon Technologies

• Carbon Clean Solutions

• Mission Zero Technologies

• CarbonCapture Inc.

• Svante Inc.

• Skytree

Competitive Landscape

Climeworks AG

Climeworks AG is a Switzerland-based direct air capture company and industry leader, with innovative direct air capture technology based on renewable energy and waste heat, including the Mammoth facility built in partnership with Climeworks geo-storage partner Carbfix in Iceland.

1PointFive (Occidental Petroleum)

Occidental's subsidiary 1PointFive is developing and operating large-scale direct air capture facilities with Carbon Engineering technology for commercial-scale CO2 capture and geological storage in the United States.

Heirloom Carbon Technologies

Heirloom Carbon Technologies is a company that is developing direct air capture technology using solid sorbents, and has commercial partnerships in place to incorporate captured CO2 into building materials and other carbon utilization projects.

Analyst View

The Direct Air Capture market is on the brink of going from an era of demonstration projects at pilot scale to the era of first-generation commercial facilities with the potential to capture tens of thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year, as demonstrated by Climeworks' Mammoth plant in Iceland. The region is currently the market leader, with the combination of hub funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the 45Q tax credit and the existence of a large developer base, while Europe's policy architecture and technologically advanced technology leadership of Climeworks puts them in the middle of the pack. Cost is the central challenge, and industry is generally agreed that costs need to drop by at least 50% over the next 10 years or so if DAC is to be of any consequence for climate change within the timeframe of the Paris Agreement. This will require further integration of renewable energy, continued improvements in the efficiency of sorbents and solvents, and the development of CO2 transport and storage systems. Companies that can deliver reliable capture technology, reliable source of renewable energy and storage or utilization arrangements are most likely to drive the next wave of market growth.

Direct Air Capture Market Scope: