Cool Effect Adds First Direct Air Capture Project to Portfolio Following Rigorous Review

Cool Effect, a Bay Area nonprofit that supports high integrity carbon emission reduction and removal projects around the globe, is announcing today that it has selected a Direct Air Capture (DAC) project to be added to its portfolio of carbon projects. After a comprehensive review, Cool Effect has chosen to represent Project Juniper, a DAC project in Nevada owned and operated by LA-based project developer Clairity Technology.

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This marks the first time that Cool Effect has supported a DAC project, and only the second durable technology-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) project added to its portfolio after selection of a biochar project in 2024. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that 10 billion metric tons, or 10 gigatons, of carbon dioxide removal will be required annually by 2050. Despite its potential as a complement to decarbonization strategies, investment in DAC remains a fraction of what's needed. According to carbon market database Allied Offsets, only 2.1 million tons of DAC carbon credits have been transacted as of December 2024¹ – less than 0.02% of what will be required each year.

“We’ve seen growing interest in DAC projects from our corporate buyers, but many remain cautious because of price and availability, and are wary of investing in an emerging technology,” said Jodi Manning, CEO at Cool Effect. “Clairity’s innovative approach has demonstrated that scalable, high-integrity carbon removal through DAC is not just the future promise—it’s starting now with Project Juniper. We’re proud to add this project to our portfolio, helping build confidence in the market and setting a high bar for what first-of-its-kind, science-backed carbon removal should look like.”

Project Juniper captures atmospheric carbon dioxide using Clairity’s novel, low-cost, and scalable three-step DAC process. First, fans blow air over a widely available, low-cost, and non-toxic alkali carbonate sorbent, capturing the carbon dioxide via a chemical reaction. Then the sorbent is heated to low temperatures, off-gassing the carbon dioxide, which is collected, and yielding water. Next, the carbon dioxide is introduced to feedstock materials, where it undergoes a mineralization process that permanently locks in carbon by generating carbonated materials. Once mineralized, the carbonated materials are transported to a local construction and demolition (C&D) landfill for storage. C&D landfills are designated for industrial waste disposal and highly regulated, meeting strict methodological requirements for ensuring low reversal risk and a carbon storage durability of over 1,000 years.

Most DAC processes are both energy-intensive and consume water, which would traditionally place an increasing strain on communities as DAC scales to megaton and gigaton levels. However, Project Juniper is carbon-negative and water-positive, generating water for water-stressed communities in Southern Nevada and providing a significant environmental and economic co-benefit. The project is fully electric and can be powered by clean energy from the local grid operator. Additionally, it boasts a modular design with the ability to add on fans and increase carbon capture capacity over time, allowing for it to scale and right-size based on investment.

“We were deeply impressed by the Clairity team and their innovative DAC technology,” said Johanna Depenthal, Director of Project Research at Cool Effect. “Their non-toxic, energy-efficient, and water-generating carbon capture and sequestration process is a step forward for DAC, and their careful accounting of project emissions via the comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ensures that resulting credits are truly additional. We also appreciate the meaningful co-benefits it brings to the Southern Nevada region, a key consideration for every project we support at Cool Effect.”

Project Juniper is currently undergoing validation by Isometric, a leading carbon removal registry. Following the project’s approval, credits are anticipated to issue in summer 2025, at which time Clairity Technology is expected to be the first DAC project developer to issue credits in the United States and only the second in the world.

“We’re incredibly proud of the breakthrough technology behind Project Juniper and what it represents for the future of carbon removal,” said Glen Meyerowitz, Founder & CEO at Clairity Technology. “From the beginning, we set out to create a DAC solution that is both scalable and cost-effective today. Partnering with Cool Effect—a leader in rigorous project selection and integrity—validates the work we’ve done and gives us confidence that we can accelerate impact in the years ahead.”

To learn more about Cool Effect and how to partner with the organization to develop an impactful carbon credit program, please visit cooleffect.org.

About Cool Effect™

Cool Effect is a San Francisco Bay Area 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to reducing carbon emissions around the world. Endorsed by 1% for the Planet, its mission is to educate and then inspire businesses and individuals to take measurable action against climate change by purchasing scientifically verified carbon credits from the world’s highest quality projects. It returns more than 90% of each donation directly to its project partners and, since its launch at the Paris COP in 2015, has helped projects receive over $70 million for nearly ten million tonnes of emission reductions. Like the Butterfly Effect, The Ripple Effect, and others, a single action can have global impact. To learn more, please visit cooleffect.org or follow Cool Effect on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

About Clairity Technology

Clairity Technology is a global leader in direct air capture (DAC) and carbon storage by advancing the bounds of what can be accomplished today. Clairity’s process uses readily available materials and simple hardware to deploy solutions to capture and remove atmospheric CO₂. Project Juniper is Clairity’s first commercial facility to perform DAC and storage via ex-situ mineralization and will generate the first independently verified credits from a DAC project in North America. Clairity will be increasing the scale of its removal across the US Southwest and in other locations around the world. For more information, visit www.clairitytech.com.

Sources

1. Pranav Balaji, “DAC: Processes, types of DAC and Current state of DAC,” Allied Offsets, December 2024, https://blog.alliedoffsets.com/dac-processes-types-of-dac-and-current-state-of-dac.

 

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