CarpeCarbon to Build First Industrial DAC Plant at Michelin's Cuneo Site

A 300-tonne-per-year direct air capture plant will be built at Michelin Italiana's tyre production site in Cuneo, Italy, with operations expected to start in the second half of 2027. Italian DAC developer CarpeCarbon will supply the technology in what the company describes as its first industrial-scale deployment.

The Cuneo facility is Western Europe's largest Michelin tyre production site, and the choice of host is not incidental. The captured CO2 will feed directly into Michelin Italiana's production processes, with any surplus processed for storage. The plant therefore functions as both a carbon removal unit and an on-site feedstock supply — a combination that improves the economics of a technology still better known for its cost problem than its output.

The partnership follows a pilot installation in Turin, which CarpeCarbon says validated its capture approach. The Cuneo project is the next step, and the step after that is considerably larger.

How large is CarpeCarbon's roadmap?

The company targets a total CO2 capture capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year in 2028-2029, rising to 50,000 tonnes per year from 2030. That is a jump of roughly 167 times the capacity of the Cuneo unit, compressed into three years.

CarpeCarbon intends to get there through a growth model based on modular plants integrated directly into existing industrial sites, partially powered by waste heat available on-site, plus stand-alone modular plants powered exclusively by solar heat.

At Cuneo, the design uses low-temperature heat, including heat recovered from Michelin's production processes and heat produced by solar thermal collectors. The company presents this energy efficiency as central to its approach rather than an afterthought. Low-temperature heat is cheap where industry already vents it, and DAC units that can drink from that stream avoid the energy bill that has stalled many of their peers.

What does the CEO say?

CarpeCarbon co-founder and CEO Giuliano Antoniciello set out the stakes in a statement: "We have developed a proprietary technology, protected by three patents, and invested in the creation of a pilot plant. Being able to start implementing this plan alongside a leading industrial player like Michelin Italiana is vital for accelerating the subsequent phases of the technology's industrial development."

He added: "Our ultimate goal is for this to be the starting point for extending the model to many other production facilities in Italy, Europe, and worldwide."

Three patents and one pilot plant now carry a 5,000-tonne commitment due within roughly four years. That is the ratio the carbon removal sector runs on.

Why does siting matter here?

By integrating DAC into an existing industrial context, the project valorizes waste heat that would otherwise be lost while securing a reliable CO2 supply for production needs. The model is deliberately repeatable: an industrial host with surplus heat and a demand for carbon gets an energy-efficient capture unit on its own premises.

For Michelin Italiana, the arrangement turns a thermal byproduct into process input. For CarpeCarbon, it provides a working industrial reference — the asset that developers in this sector need before anyone else will sign.

What happens next?

The milestone to watch is commissioning in the second half of 2027. If the Cuneo unit reaches its nominal 300 tonnes per year on recovered heat, CarpeCarbon's modular scaling claims gain a working proof point; if it does not, the 2028-2029 target of 5,000 tonnes becomes a story about slippage. The plant's first captured tonne will say more than the roadmap does.