American Airlines Bet Big on Graphyte's Carbon Removal Technology—Here's Why It Matters

American Airlines just made a major move in the climate tech space: it committed to purchasing 10,000 tons of permanent carbon removal from Graphyte, a startup specializing in innovative carbon removal solutions. The deliveries kick off in early 2025, marking the first major commercial deployment of Graphyte’s proprietary approach.

The Scale of the Commitment

This isn’t a small pilot project. American Airlines, which operates one of the world’s largest fleets, is essentially betting that Graphyte’s carbon removal technology can become a viable path toward the airline’s net-zero emissions goal by 2050. The deal signals growing confidence in the emerging carbon removal market—and suggests airlines see these credits as essential tools for addressing emissions they can’t eliminate through operational changes alone.

Jill Blickstein, American’s Chief Sustainability Officer, framed it clearly: “Hard to abate industries like aviation will need high-quality, permanent, affordable and scalable carbon credits to achieve our emissions reduction goals.” Translation: carbon removal isn’t optional anymore; it’s infrastructure.

How Graphyte’s Carbon Removal Approach Works

The company’s Carbon Casting process is designed to be different. Instead of relying on energy-intensive methods, Graphyte uses readily available biomass—crop residues, wood waste—that has already absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

The process is straightforward: biomass gets dried to stop decomposition, compressed into dense carbon blocks, sealed with an environmentally safe polymer, and stored underground in monitored facilities. The result claims to be permanent storage with carbon dioxide removal durability exceeding 1,000 years.

The first facility will be located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, positioned near major agricultural and timber production zones where feedstock is abundant.

What Sets This Apart

Compared to existing carbon removal approaches, Graphyte’s method reportedly uses significantly less energy while keeping costs substantially lower. For an industry like aviation—which faces regulatory pressure and reputational scrutiny over emissions—affordability and scalability matter as much as permanence.

Barclay Rogers, Graphyte’s CEO, called the American Airlines deal a “landmark agreement” that “demonstrates the growing demand for affordable and scalable high-quality carbon removal credits.”

The Broader Picture

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the venture firm backing Graphyte, has invested across multiple climate technologies. This commercial-scale deployment represents a real-world test of whether carbon removal can move beyond academic interest into operational reality.

For American Airlines, the purchase serves a dual purpose: it advances the company’s emissions reduction strategy while helping validate and scale a new technology. For Graphyte, landing a Fortune 500 customer provides both revenue and proof-of-concept that its carbon removal solution can meet enterprise-level demand.

The next few years will reveal whether this model—combining readily available biomass with permanent carbon storage—can achieve the cost and scale needed to make a dent in global emissions.