The University of Illinois is leading a team to develop preliminary designs for large-scale direct air capture (DAC) plants that separate and permanently store 100,000 tonnes/yr net carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air at three different facilities located in Wyoming, Louisiana, and California. The project goal is to examine the effect of various climatic conditions on the DAC system design and overall cost and evaluate the impact of using different low-carbon energy sources (i.e., geothermal, solar, wind, or waste heat). Further, this work aims to tackle scale-up challenges related to construction, operation, and logistics, as well as gauge the technical and regulatory challenges at each site.