Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. yesterday announced that its wholly owned subsidiary MOL Switch LLC (Representative & CEO: Tomoaki Ichida; Headquarters: California, U.S.) , which aims to invest in decarbonization technologies, became the first Japanese company to participate in Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Inc. (Heirloom; Representative & CEO: Shashank Samala; Headquarters: California, U.S.) , a developer of Direct Air Capture (DAC Note 2) technology. MOL, along with Mitsubishi Corporation invested through a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) (Note 3) in July 2023. In addition, Heirloom recently completed a $150 million financing, along with several Japanese companies, including Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.
Heirloom is the world’s leading U.S. developer of DAC, a technology that removes CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Unlike conventional amine methods, Heirloom’s DAC technology uses limestone, the second most abundant and inexpensive mineral in the world, as a raw material, reducing the costs of the technology. Heirloom’s “Cypress” project (Note 4) is in development in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and has received a grant of up to US$600 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project’s goal is to remove about 1 million tons of CO2 per year from the atmosphere.
Through this investment, MOL will contribute to the improvement of DAC technology, a form of negative emissions, and strive to promote and expand negative emissions throughout society.
The MOL Group aims to become a social infrastructure company under its BLUE ACTION 2035 management plan, and plans to strengthen non-shipping business fields and proactively invest in them. Furthermore, the group has set the target of achieving net zero GHG emissions for the entire group by 2050 in the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2.” It aims to achieve decarbonization of society as a whole by contributing to the spread and expansion of negative emissions.
Source: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
