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Frontier Carbon Removal Fund Makes $7 Million in New Commitments
Frontier Carbon Removal Fund Makes $7 Million in New Commitments
The Stripe-led group purchased services from 12 startups that remove carbon from the atmosphere using everything from rivers to machines.
Stripe Inc.’s $1 billion Frontier fund has written its third round of checks to startups attempting to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Frontier facilitated the purchase of $7 million of carbon removal services from 12 startups on behalf of Stripe — which initiated the fund — Shopify Inc. and Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M). The startups use a variety of techniques to remove carbon from the air. Among them are CarbonRun, which changes the alkalinity of rivers to enhance their natural ability to remove CO2, and Banyu Carbon, which uses sunlight to pull CO2 from seawater. A number of companies remove carbon from the ambient air using machines, a process known as direct air capture.
Rewind.earth
Biomass carbon removal and storage
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Tel Aviv, Israel
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R&D
Rewind.earth uses cranes off of boats to sink agricultural and forest residues to the oxygenless bottom of the Black Sea, the largest anoxic body of water on Earth. Oxygenless water dramatically slows biomass decomposition. The lack of living organisms in the Black Sea limits any potential ecosystem risks. This process allows for affordable and environmentally safe carbon removal.
Carboniferous
Biomass carbon removal and storage
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Houston, TX, US
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R&D
Carboniferous sinks bundles of leftover sugarcane fiber and corn stover into deep, salty, oxygenless basins in the Gulf of Mexico. The lack of oxygen in these environments–and therefore absence of animals and most microbes–slows the breakdown of biomass so it is efficiently preserved and stored durably in ocean sediments. The team will conduct experiments to determine the functional stability of sunken biomass as well as the interaction with ocean biogeochemistry.
Vycarb
Ocean alkalinity enhancement
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Brooklyn, NY, US
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58 tons
Vycarb uses a reactor to add limestone alkalinity to coastal ocean water, resulting in the drawdown and storage of atmospheric CO₂. Their dissolution system has a novel sensing apparatus that base tests water, dissolves calcium carbonate, and doses alkalinity into the water at a controlled amount safe for dispersion. Their closed system makes it easier to measure the amount of dissolved alkalinity added and CO₂ removed.
Arbon
Direct air capture
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New York, NY, US
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173 tons
Arbon uses a 'humidity-swing' process to capture CO₂ from the air. The sorbent binds CO₂ when dry and releases it when wet. This process uses less energy than approaches that rely on changing temperature and pressure to release CO₂. The sorbent’s ability to bind CO₂ has been shown to remain stable over thousands of cycles. Both of these innovations could reduce the cost of DAC.
Vaulted
Biomass carbon removal and storage
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Houston, TX, US
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1,666 tons
Vaulted injects organic waste into durable wells, where the carbon in the waste is sequestered as it decomposes. Using a specialized slurry injection technology, their process can handle a wide range of organic carbon sources with minimal energy and upfront processing. Their system has the potential to be deployed quickly at large scales.
Spiritus
Direct air capture
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Los Alamos, NM
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713 tons
Spiritus uses a sorbent made from commercially-available materials and a passive air contactor that requires little energy to capture CO₂. The CO₂-saturated sorbent is then regenerated using a novel desorption process, capturing the CO₂ and allowing the sorbent to be reused with less energy than a higher-heat vacuum chamber typically used in direct air capture approaches. The high-performance, inexpensive sorbent and lower regeneration energy provide a path to low cost.
Planetary
Ocean alkalinity enhancement
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Nova Scotia, Canada
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937 tons
Planetary harnesses the ocean for scalable removal. They introduce alkaline materials to existing ocean outfalls like wastewater plants and power station cooling loops. This speeds up the sequestration of CO₂ safely and permanently as bicarbonate ions in the ocean. Planetary then verifies the removal through advanced measurement and modeling techniques.
Mati
Enhanced weathering
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US and India
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1,513 tons
Mati applies silicate rock powders to agricultural fields, starting with rice paddy farms in India. These rocks react with water and CO₂ to produce dissolved inorganic carbon that is subsequently stored in the local watershed and eventually in the ocean. Mati relies on rice field flooding and higher subtropical temperatures to accelerate weathering, and extensive sampling and soil and river modeling to measure removal and deliver co-benefits to smallholder farmers.
Holocene
Direct air capture
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Knoxville, TN, US
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332 tons
Holocene captures CO₂ from air using organic molecules that can be produced at low cost. In the first step of their process, CO₂ is captured from air when it comes into contact with a liquid solution. In the second step, a chemical reaction crystallizes the material as a solid. That solid is heated up to release the CO₂, minimizing energy wasted in heating water. Holocene’s process runs at lower temperatures, further reducing the energy required, increasing energy flexibility, and lowering overall cost.
EDAC Labs
Enhanced weathering
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Baltimore, MD, US
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317 tons
EDAC Labs uses an electrochemical process to produce acid and base. The acid is used to start the recovery of valuable metals from mining waste, and the base is used to capture CO₂ from air. The acid and base streams are then combined to produce metals that can be sold for applications such as batteries, and solid carbonates, which permanently store CO₂.
CarbonRun
Ocean alkalinity enhancement
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Nova Scotia, CA
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1,291 tons
CarbonRun enhances the natural ability of river currents to weather abundant, low-cost limestone and reduce river acidity levels. This benefits river ecosystems locally and enhances the rivers’ ability to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere. Rivers, which are natural carbon transport systems, then deliver CO₂ to the ocean for permanent storage in the form of bicarbonate.
CarbonBlue
Direct ocean removal
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Haifa, Israel
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400 tons
CarbonBlue uses calcium in a closed-loop cycle to mineralize, separate, and remove dissolved CO₂ from water. This results in a pure stream of CO₂ that can be durably sequestered. Their approach can operate in freshwater or saltwater and can rely on waste heat for the regeneration process. The team plans to integrate with desalination plants and other water-withdrawing industries, reducing energy usage and costs.
Carbon Atlantis
Direct air capture
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Munich, Germany
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275 tons
Carbon Atlantis is using a process known as electrochemical pH-swing. Their system uses a solvent to capture CO₂ and an acid to release it. This approach is inspired by recent innovation in Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers, making the process both cost-effective and energy-efficient. The CO₂ is then run through
Banyu Carbon
Direct ocean removal
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Seattle, WA, US
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360 tons
Banyu Carbon uses sunlight to capture CO₂ from seawater. A reusable, light-activated molecule that becomes acidic when exposed to light causes carbon dissolved in seawater to degas as CO₂, which is then stored permanently. Because only a small portion of the visible light spectrum is needed to trigger the reaction, this is a highly energy-efficient approach to direct ocean removal.
Alkali Earth
Enhanced weathering
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Northfield, MN, US
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1,351 tons
Alkali Earth uses alkaline byproducts from industrial processes as carbon-removing gravel to apply to roads. These minerals act as a sink for atmospheric CO₂, storing it permanently while cementing road surfaces. The formation of CO₂-containing minerals within the gravel can be directly measured, leading to high-confidence in resulting removals.
Airhive
Direct air capture
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London, UK
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943 tons
Airhive is building a geochemical direct air capture system using a sorbent that can be made out of cheap and abundant minerals. This sorbent reacts rapidly with atmospheric CO₂ when mixed with air in Airhive’s fluidized bed reactor. Coupled with a regeneration process that’s powered by electricity to release the CO₂ for geologic storage, this provides a promising approach to low-cost DAC.
