UK-based direct air capture (DAC) technology company Airhive has acquired Dutch DAC developer Carbyon in an agreement aimed at creating a European DAC company with enhanced technological capabilities and a stronger position to deploy low-cost carbon removal solutions at scale.

As reported by ESG Today, the combined company will operate under the Airhive name, integrating teams across the UK and the Netherlands. Early-stage research and development will be centred at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven in the Netherlands, where the company will focus on developing Airhive's next-generation Cascade technology, designed to further reduce the cost of carbon removal.

Rory Brown, founder and CEO of Airhive, said: "The goal in DAC is achieving low costs at large operational scale. That requires three things: sustained technological innovation, expertise in executing projects, and a wider enabling environment of policy incentives and infrastructure. Leveraging Carbyon's impressive R&D capabilities will accelerate innovation and help us reach that goal quicker."

Hans De Neve, founder of Carbyon, said: "The world needs DAC to work, and this combination brings together exactly what's been missing: Airhive's execution power and de-risked technology, paired with Carbyon's fundamental R&D depth and expertise."

The two companies bring distinct but complementary technologies to the combination. Founded as a spinout from Dutch research organisation TNO, Carbyon has developed DAC systems capable of achieving 90% sorbent saturation in approximately 100 seconds, around 200 times faster than conventional DAC solutions. Airhive uses a fluidised-bed process in which mineral sorbent particles are suspended in fast-moving airflow to maximise contact with atmospheric CO2, enabling faster capture rates and higher efficiency than static filter systems.

The enlarged Airhive will focus on both carbon utilisation and carbon storage projects over the next year. This includes working with Airhive investor Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to install a DAC system at a large European bottling plant, where captured CO2 will be used to produce low-carbon, food-grade carbon dioxide for beverage production. The pilot could expand to additional facilities in future.

Airhive will also continue to co-develop the UnionDAC project, with its systems expected to provide all solid-sorbent DAC capacity at the facility, targeting a combined carbon removal capacity of 60,000 tonnes annually by 2032, which would exceed any DAC plant currently in operation.