International energy company Occidental’s (Oxy), carbon capture, utilization and sequestration platform subsidiary, 1PointFive, announced an agreement with NFL team the Houston Texans for the purchase of carbon removal credits to offset emissions from the team’s air travel.

The deal follows the announcement in August by Oxy and 1PointFive of plans to build the world’s largest to date direct air capture (DAC) plant in the Texas Permian Basin, with capacity to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year at launch, and the potential to scale up to 1 million tons.

DAC technology, listed by the IEA as a key carbon removal option in the transition to a net zero energy system, extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere for use as a raw material or permanently removed when combined with storage. According to the landmark IPCC climate change mitigation study released earlier this year, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal methods scaling to billions of tons of removal annually over the coming decades, with DAC positioned to potentially account for a significant portion of the total.

Under the new agreement, the Texans will purchase credits from 1PointFive’s first DAC plant, which is expected to be operational in late 2024, allowing the team to offset the estimated carbon emissions for air travel to regular season away games for three seasons.

Michael Avery, President and General Manager of 1PointFive, said:

“We are excited to work with the Houston Texans and for their purchase of carbon removal credits enabled by Direct Air Capture. We believe Direct Air Capture is an efficient way to help reduce an organization’s carbon footprint and provides a solution that is particularly well-suited to addressing carbon emissions associated with air travel.”

The agreement also includes a sponsorship, with 1PointFive becoming the Texans’ Preferred Carbon Removal Partner and working with the team to educate fans on DAC and the importance of carbon removal.

Jerry Angel, Houston Texans Vice President of Corporate Development, said:

“We are proud to partner with 1PointFive and welcome them to our Houston Texans family. Together with 1PointFive, we will strive to make a difference across our community.”