Guests must register in advance. Reception to follow immediately after the seminar.
SPEAKER: Noah McQueen, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy, Heirloom
BIO: Noah is a co-founder and the Head of Strategy at Heirloom, a direct air capture company with the goal of removing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Noah's expertise surrounds carbon capture and removal, with a focus on direct air capture and carbon mineralization technologies. Their expertise further includes techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of carbon removal systems. Noah holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
ABSTRACT: Achieving global climate goals and limiting temperature rise to 2°C requires bold innovations that both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. Carbon removal technologies, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC), will play a critical role in this effort, but their adoption depends on their scalability, quality, and cost. Heirloom is advancing DAC technology by utilizing an abundant and low-cost material—limestone—to create a circular process that captures and sequesters atmospheric CO2 effectively and affordably.
This seminar will explore the broader landscape of DAC technology development through Heirloom’s journey, showcasing the progression from lab-scale research and prototyping to pilot operations and large-scale deployment. Along the way, we’ll discuss key principles like techno-economic analysis, iterative learning, and scalability—factors that are essential for accelerating innovation. We’ll also touch on the ecosystem needed to support these advancements, including supply chains, manufacturing, and construction. This session aims to inspire and inform researchers, engineers, and students about the challenges and opportunities in scaling climate technologies to address one of humanity’s greatest challenges.
