Advancements in Direct Air Capture

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome:

• Accelerating the commercial availability of Direct Air Capture technologies.

Scope:

Projects are expected to aim at scaling up existing technical solutions to at least the level of pilot demonstration in relevant environments (TRL 7 or higher).

Projects are expected to demonstrate:

• Improving the cost efficiency of the capture and regeneration process, including Balance of Plant;
• Improving material performance and process designs (e.g. capture/desorption capacity and kinetics, durability, long-term stability in air);
• Potential for manufacturing and scale-up (recycling and reuse of materials);
• Flexible operation under intermittent or surplus renewable energy supply.

Depending on the technology, other important issues to address are:

• Reducing energy use for sorbent/solvent regeneration;
• Alternative materials for - and approaches to - CO2 separation;
• Development and demonstration of materials in particular for DAC systems operating in cold temperatures or under humid conditions, or in areas with severe air pollution;
• Accuracy of simulated predictions compared to validation experiments;
• New designs for efficient, high-flux air contactors, optimised for maximum air contact.

Projects must develop a comprehensive life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental implications of the entire DAC system, from material extraction and use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through to end-of-life. The use of the European Research Infrastructure for CO2 Capture, Utilisation, Transport and Storage ECCSEL is encouraged but not mandatory. International cooperation with participating countries of the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission [1] is encouraged. Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] Carbon Dioxide Removal – Mission Innovation (mission-innovation.net)

Submissions open on 03 December 2026.

Part of call HORIZON-CL5-2027-02

Type of action: HORIZON Innovation Actions

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

Priorities: RePowerEU, DigitalAgenda, INCO, AI

"> General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .

3. Other Eligible Conditions

In line with the “ restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas ” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in