Skytree’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology awarded first-ever SDE++ subsidies for Dutch greenhouse sector, cementing DAC as a structural pillar of the Dutch CO₂ transition

AMSTERDAM, 10 September 2026 — Glastuinbouw Nederland announced that a group of Dutch greenhouse projects have secured the first-ever SDE++ subsidy awards for Direct Air Capture (DAC) in the Netherlands. Under the “Stimulering Duurzame Energieproductie en Klimaattransitie” scheme, known as SDE++, these greenhouses will deploy Skytree Stratus systems to produce fossil-free, circular CO₂ onsite to stimulate their crop growth. The awards represent a combined capture capacity of 23000 tonnes of atmospheric CO₂ per year and mobilizing ~€80 million of subsidies, a first but decisive step in Dutch horticulture's transition to a resilient, fossil-free CO₂ supply. This first generation of DAC systems in the Netherlands moves policy ambition to reality.

A structural answer to an acute CO₂ shortage

The Dutch greenhouse sector is making a fundamental shift in its CO₂ supply. Natural-gas-fired heating systems are phased out and replaced by geothermal and other non fossil sources of energy. Most of the CO₂ currently used in greenhouses is captured in these gas-fired heating systems and phasing them out requires the sector to find new sources of CO₂. The other source, industrial CO₂ streams, are increasingly routed to permanent storage via projects such as Porthos. Research by WUR projects a structural lack of around 0.8 -1.4 Mtpa of CO₂ by 2031. Without a scalable alternative, both crop productivity and the Netherlands' position as a global leader in horticulture come under pressure.

Direct Air Capture offers a decentralized, circular and fossil-free response: CO₂ is captured from ambient air directly at the greenhouse site and used to enrich crop growth. The technology decouples growers from volatile external industrial supply chains while contributing to national and European climate targets. The same tonne of CO₂ that supports Dutch food production would otherwise remain in the atmosphere.

"Dutch greenhouse growers are once again proving their global pioneering role. By investing in DAC today, they are securing a fossil-free CO₂ supply for the decades ahead and laying the foundation for a new Dutch industry in climate technology. We thank PBL, RVO and the Ministries of Climate and Green Growth and LVVN for the constructive collaboration that made DAC eligible under the SDE++."

— Rob van Straten, CEO of Skytree

From demonstration to commercial roll-out

The first commercial Skytree Stratus system will be launched at Lingezegen Energy. This project demonstrates that decentralized, fossil-free CO₂ supply is technically proven and commercially bankable today. With SDE++ scheme-backed operating support in place, DAC moves from first-of-a-kind demonstration to structured roll-out across the sector, and a tangible domestic ecosystem of growers, installers, financiers, energy partners and knowledge institutions is forming around it.

Skytree Stratus is a modular DAC system engineered for industrial performance. Its proprietary moving-bed architecture decouples adsorption from desorption, enabling the integration of low-grade renewable and waste heat and driving electricity consumption down to as low as 0.9 MWh per tonne of CO₂. Standardized modules with a capture capacity of 2.5 tonnes of CO₂ per day can be configured into parks of any size, giving growers a scalable, bankable solution that grows with their operations.

The Skytree installations at growers will be used for CO₂ production mostly in spring and summer time, when photosynthesis requires CO₂ dosing. A first group of greenhouses will use the DAC installation in winter time to still generate CO₂ if there is too much electricity on the grid, or prices are very low. This CO₂ will be routed to permanent storage, generating negative emissions, which contribute to the national emission targets. 

"We are pleased that the government is supporting this promising technology. Many growers still rely on fossil CO₂ today, but the fossil use will have to decline in the coming years to meet the climate targets. Growers are therefore looking for alternatives, and capturing CO₂ directly from the ambient air helps to meet part of that need. Through the dual-use of the technology Dutch greenhouses also contribute to combatting climate change, converting from net emitters to climate solvers over time."

— Adri Bom-Lemstra, Chair of Glastuinbouw Nederland. 

About Skytree

Skytree engineers the CO₂ transition by developing Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that captures CO₂ from the air and repurposes it for good: whether carbon is reused across different industries or stored permanently.

With over a decade of innovation rooted in the European Space Agency (ESA), Skytree's patented DAC technology transforms atmospheric CO₂ into a valuable resource: powering applications like renewable fuels and chemicals, greenhouses, beverage carbonation, food packaging and water treatment.

Skytree's modular DAC machines and unique DAC Park architecture allow companies to deploy in any climate, at scale, offering a bankable path to CO₂ supply security and price stability, and accelerating the transition to a circular CO₂ economy.