THE PROBLEM: Climate change is worsening extreme global weather, which has increasingly dangerous impacts on people and the environment. To mitigate the damage, we must not only reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) output but also actively remove CO2 that is already in the atmosphere, called achieving negative emissions. Based on estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, by 2050, we need to remove up to 10 gigatons of CO2 per year, costing an estimated $50-100 trillion. The two existing carbon removal methods have limitations in their scalability and carbon footprints. 

THE SOLUTION: Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed a negative-emissions direct-air-capture (DAC) technology based on a new chemistry called Bis-Iminoguanidine Negative Emission Technology (BIG-NET): The CO2 is absorbed into another material and mixed with a reusable compound, which turns the captured CO2 into crystals that can be stored or heated. The technology uses organic and non-toxic materials, sustainable heat sources and less energy than other methods; collectively, this minimizes the technology’s environmental impact. The ORNL technology will enable Holocene to scale and deploy the process at least two times faster than existing technologies — removing more CO2 more quickly to help the world meet its urgent deadline. 

THE TECH TRANSFER MECHANISM: In 2021, ORNL began licensing discussions with Holocene, a startup co-founded by Anca Timofte, an MBA student at the time with a chemical engineering background and experience at Climeworks, one of the world’s first DAC companies. As a startup in a young industry, Holocene had much to learn and do to create a business plan, determine the market and build a viable commercial product. In 2022, Timofte was chosen as a Breakthrough Energy Fellow, which awarded her a multimillion-dollar grant. She also joined the Spark Incubator Program, a two-year entrepreneurial support program, and ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads program. A commercial license agreement was signed in 2022. Since then, Holocene has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with ORNL to perform experiments to inform their first plant's construction. 

THE TECH TRANSFER EXCELLENCE: This technology transfer effort was fueled by the unrelenting efforts of Timofte, the ORNL commercialization team and the Innovation Crossroads team. Another key factor in this success was the partnership with Holocene. Despite the potential challenges of transferring technology to a startup, the ORNL team was impressed by Timofte, her background and the business model she was creating; they felt Holocene would be the company that would give the technology its greatest chance for success. The ORNL team also recognized the unique advantages a small startup can bring, such as having more agility and creativity than a larger organization. 

THE OUTCOMES: Since its inception, Holocene has been awarded more than $5 million in grants and awards. In 2021, the technology won a prestigious R&D 100 Award. In 2023, Frontier Climate, a coalition of carbon removal services buyers, signed a purchase agreement for at least $1 billion collectively. At the time of publication, Holocene is focused on building a test facility with the chemical engineering equipment at scale for the first time, with the ability to remove 10 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. According to plans, a new pilot facility will remove 1,500 tons of CO2 per year by 2026. By 2028, a projected 50x increase will mean 75,000 tons will be removed per year. By 2030, a commercial-scale plant will be removing 500,000 tons of CO2 per year.