Following an unprecedented win of Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs earlier this month, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), part of the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was invited to join the Direct Air Capture Coalition (DAC Coalition), a global non-profit multi-stakeholder coalition organization consisting of nearly 100 companies, civil society groups, and research and academic institutions working together to help advance and accelerate the responsible development and deployment of direct air capture technology to address climate change in a manner that is timely, effective, responsible, equitable, and sustainable. 

"This is a major honor since the DAC Coalition represents some of the leading scientific and business organizations that are focused on the development and deployment of DAC," said Kevin OBrien, Director of ISTC and the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), "This coalition will facilitate and expedite full-scale penetration of this important new technology to address the reduction of existing CO₂ levels in the atmosphere – a vital step in mitigating climate change."

PRI, a partner of the prestigious DAC Coalition Group, was invited, in part, due to the commercial success of its point-source carbon capture and its decades of experience in permanently storing CO₂ underground at a commercial scale.

"We are thrilled to welcome PRI as a DAC Coalition partner organization and look forward to collaborating closely with them as a stand-out academic partner for the Direct Air Capture Coalition due to its first class, groundbreaking work in advancing the field of direct air capture research and its analysis of the impact of regional climate variations on the effectiveness of DAC systems," said Jason Hochman, Co-Founder and Senior Director of the DAC Coalition, "PRI's ongoing partnership with DAC Coalition member company, Climeworks, is forging real-world efforts to deploy this critical climate solution. By partnering with PRI, the broader Direct Air Capture Coalition gains an experienced and dedicated ally in scaling this field," said Hochman.
 
Being a partner of the Direct Air Capture Coalition brings several key benefits, including access to a diverse network of DAC technology companies, to foster partnerships, accelerate innovation, and enable impactful climate solutions. 

"The DAC Coalition enables us to network and assures that the scientific achievements we develop can be shared amongst an international community. It also provides a means to share best practices in DAC development and deployment," said OBrien.

The DAC Coalition stakeholders are often recognized as leaders in the fight against climate change around the world by scaling DAC technology and educating key audiences on the critical importance of DAC deployment and carbon removal efforts on a global scale.

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Media contact: Tiffany Jolley, tjolley2@illinois.edu