Direct air capture technology has the potential to meaningfully reduce atmospheric CO2, but high costs and energy demands have kept it from scaling. In this episode, Cory Sanderson, founder and CEO of Sustaera, explains how his Durham-based climate tech company is taking a fundamentally different approach. Sustaera’s conductive structured sorbent technology uses resistive electrical heating instead of thermal regeneration, making it three to four times more energy-efficient than competing direct air capture systems and far simpler to deploy at scale. Cory also gets into the realities of building a climate tech hardware company in the current funding environment, why patient capital and mission-aligned investors matter more than traditional VC timelines, and how the Research Triangle ecosystem has been a genuine asset on the fundraising trail. Attorney Josh Hayes of Hutchison PLLC joins the conversation to add perspective on the unique legal and structural challenges facing clean tech founders. Hosted by Trevor Schmidt.