Thoralf Gutierrez

New podcast: Hard tech startups die because they don't iterate quickly enough. They are left building big plants with technology that isn't there yet. I sat down with @HugoRauch_Tech on the New Wave podcast to discuss why DAC is an industrial certainty and how we're building for this massive market. Coming from @tesla, I saw that the only real moat is your speed of iteration. At @SironaTechCDR, we apply software speed to Direct Air Capture. We're just under three years old and we're already building our 7th iteration. If you aren't shipping, you aren't learning. A few of the tactical points we covered: Massive market: Even if we reduce emissions by 75%, we'll need to compensate for a massive 10 billion tons of residual emissions. To get to net-zero, there is no way around it. It is inevitable. Modular Execution: Most DAC companies build huge monolithic plants. We ship containers. By building modular units, we can iterate every six months instead of every six years. Sorbent Agnostic: The best filter material for DAC hasn't been invented yet. We build hardware that is solid-sorbent-agnostic so we can improve our sorbent over time and even swap the filters without rebuilding the infrastructure. Electron Arbitrage: We don’t fight data centers for power. Since CO2 is everywhere, we just go and find places where the energy is the cleanest and the cheapest. Full conversation links in the replies. The market demand is there and you'll see more big announcements coming from us here 👀 We’re done with DAC science experiments. We’ve already deployed our first commercial site. Now it’s just a game of industrial execution.

@HugoRauch_Tech Thanks, good questions. And lots of work still but we're only getting started.

@thorgutierrez By far the best conversation I've had on direct air capture. Thanks, Thor!

New podcast: Hard tech startups die because they don't iterate quickly enough. They are left building big plants with technology that isn't there yet. I sat down with @HugoRauch_Tech on the New Wave podcast to discuss why DAC is an industrial certainty and how we're building for this massive market. Coming from @tesla, I saw that the only real moat is your speed of iteration. At @SironaTechCDR, we apply software speed to Direct Air Capture. We're just under three years old and we're already building our 7th iteration. If you aren't shipping, you aren't learning. A few of the tactical points we covered: Massive market: Even if we reduce emissions by 75%, we'll need to compensate for a massive 10 billion tons of residual emissions. To get to net-zero, there is no way around it. It is inevitable. Modular Execution: Most DAC companies build huge monolithic plants. We ship containers. By building modular units, we can iterate every six months instead of every six years. Sorbent Agnostic: The best filter material for DAC hasn't been invented yet. We build hardware that is solid-sorbent-agnostic so we can improve our sorbent over time and even swap the filters without rebuilding the infrastructure. Electron Arbitrage: We don’t fight data centers for power. Since CO2 is everywhere, we just go and find places where the energy is the cleanest and the cheapest. Full conversation links in the replies. The market demand is there and you'll see more big announcements coming from us here 👀 We’re done with DAC science experiments. We’ve already deployed our first commercial site. Now it’s just a game of industrial execution.

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4gnR6Z…

Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=616R30…

Flying from Paris to Calgary, Canada. Both are similar latitude. Leaving at 14:40, landing at 14:55. I'm essentially jumping really high while the Earth rotates under me?

@grok @patrickc @grok what about synthwave?

Previous aesthetics like the Renaissance spread via patronage, trade, and the printing press; Art Deco through world expos, Hollywood, and industrialization; Bauhaus via schools, emigration, and modernist ideals. To recreate: Fund creators (e.g., grants like newaesthetics.art), use social media for exposure, form collectives tying art to tech/society, host digital expos, and encourage cross-disciplinary innovation. Let's build it!

A Call for New Aesthetics: newaesthetics.art.

It's time to look back at 2025, and we're super proud of what the team accomplished: ✅ Launched our pilot plant in Kenya → from company inception to deployment in 22 months → making us the fastest DAC company to deploy a pilot plant ✅ Built our first commercial DAC machine → from drawing to first run in 6 months ✅ Started operations at Project Moringa → from company inception to deployment in 34 months → making us the fastest DAC company to deploy a commercial plant ✅ Reduced CAPEX by 4x ✅ Reduced sorbent costs by 3x ✅ Closed multi-year offtakes with leading buyers → future announcements coming soon 👀 → we’re now sold out in 2026 We now shift our focus from deployment to delivery, with our first certified tons coming soon 💥 Thanks to everyone following, supporting, and challenging us along the way! Happy holidays! 💫

@CJHandmer Reading Leslie Groves now and loving it

Imagine spending two years researching and writing an authorized biography on one of the most singular technology and business figures in history and still having so little curiosity and insight. Imagine thinking that the best Elon could contribute to government is to register his opinion that DoD procurement sucks. Everyone knows that! We have so little from the past, so little insight into the why and how of the people who built the world we have inherited. The best is detailed first person technical memoirs, such as those by Leslie Groves or Kelly Johnson, but even then. It's not much to work with. In 100 years we'll have a few bios of Elon and a million pieces of clickbait and, at the current rate, not a single usable "how to" for anyone interested in attempting to replicate the SpaceX/Tesla production function. Despite the fact that effective large scale technical management is on the critical path for civilization. It drives me crazy.

@tobi I love the analogy of the laptop being like your room. So what is the house equivalent of Raycast?

I try to do some podcasts on totally different topics to keep it interesting. Here is one about how I work on my Mac

Master Plan, Chapter 4: Modular technology deployed to scalable plants Most industries scale by building ever-larger plants on-site. We’re taking a different path. We build modular, plug-and-play DAC units, then deploy many of them side by side to reach scale. → Each unit is container-sized and made from off-the-shelf components: lower cost, shorter lead times, agile supply chains. → Because each container is an independent unit, we can ship updates fast, and cut costs through continuous iteration. → Modules are shipped and installed with minimal on-site work. We can start small, derisk the technology and unlock project finance, then scale plants as large as needed. How we build matters. Read Chapter 4 of our Master Plan → #modular-technology" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">sirona.tech/master-plan#mo…

Master Plan, Chapter 3: Sorbent-agnostic to ride massive cost reductions At the heart of DAC is the solid sorbent: the filter that captures CO₂. There are many ways to build one (amines, zeolites, MOFs), each with their own trade-offs. At Sirona, we develop and tune our own sorbents across multiple classes, improving stability, capacity, and regeneration efficiency. But instead of locking ourselves into one chemistry, our machines stay sorbent-agnostic: they can run a wide range of materials, and we can swap in better ones as we improve our sorbent. That flexibility lets us move faster, integrating each new generation of sorbent as we develop it, without redesigning the whole system. We already reduced our sorbent cost by 3x over the last 12 months and see more coming down the line. R&D is moving fast, and our hardware is built to keep up. Read the third chapter of our Master Plan → #sorbent-agnostic" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">sirona.tech/master-plan#so…

@pmarca People know he works hard from stories of him sleeping in the factory, and nobody wants to hear they must work harder.

The most unasked question in the business world is “How does Elon do it?” You’d expect far more curiosity about this, but it’s simply not there. (Yet?)

Just realized that driving is the only activity where I use my feet as real tools. I can think of other ways feet are used: as a modifier key for the piano, to dispense water on some water taps, to open some garbage bins. Soccer is an interesting use case. Feels like this modality is underused though. Feels like there should be plenty of interesting use cases for computers as well, probably as a modifier key, maybe for CAD design or at least gaming... Where are the people working on this?? cc @waitbutwhy

@ferdisigona oooh

I was not ready for the new Tame Impala album

Say hello to Project Moringa — our latest project is coming to life 🚀 After months of intense work, Project Moringa is now taking shape in the Middle East. This is our most advanced site yet. Huge congrats to the team that has been moving at breakneck speed, delivering hardware in extreme heat and navigating a complex logistics puzzle, even shipping through the Red Sea to save precious weeks on schedule. We’re now commissioning our initial 300-ton-per-year unit to validate our technology in real-world conditions, the first step toward scaling to 1,800 tons per year in 2026. This project will demonstrate just how quickly we can scale using our modular, plug-and-play technology. A major milestone as we prepare to deliver our first certified CO₂ removal credits. ⚡ Companies looking to secure near-term, high-integrity carbon removal credits: now’s the time to reach out. Over the coming weeks, we’ll share updates as we hit key milestones. Keep your eyes peeled 👀

Master Plan, Chapter 2: Solid sorbents have the clearest path to rapid cost decrease Direct Air Capture only scales if costs fall fast. Today most systems run $500–$1,000 per ton. To make gigaton removal possible, we need $100–$200. At Sirona we asked ourselves: which technology gets us there quickest? → First, physics: what’s the theoretical cost floor? Rule out what will always be too expensive. → Second, learning rate: how fast does each technology improve as you build more of it? (Think solar panels: what mattered wasn’t just cost at launch, but how fast the price fell with scale.) Two things drive steep learning curves: fewer moving parts and the ability to build in a factory instead of on-site. Simpler systems, faster iteration. That’s why we chose solid sorbents with temperature-vacuum swing adsorption. Our technology already works, it's simple, modular, and can be mass-produced. Starting costs may be higher than some alternatives, but the learning curve is steeper, and that’s what wins over time. Read the second chapter of our Master Plan → #solid-sorbent" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">sirona.tech/master-plan#so…

Robot installing solar panels

Master Plan, Chapter 1: Mission-driven and hardcore engineering team Scaling Direct Air Capture will require 1) a mission-driven team where every decision serves the mission, and 2) a lean group of exceptional engineers that push each other to learn and improve.