A pioneering carbon removal initiative has announced a second funding infusion and added Anthropic, creator of the Claude AI service, to its list of members.
Frontier was launched in 2022 with a commitment from Google, Stripe and others to spend $1 billion on carbon removal by 2030. Since then, members have signed contracts worth almost $700 million for 1.8 million tons of removals from 53 projects. The initiative is based on an Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) model, which is designed to incentivize technological developments that would otherwise struggle to attract funding.
In this second phase, Frontier will focus on a smaller group of projects, those that have a clear path to government support once its own funding runs out. The group is calling the moment a “baton pass.” Members have committed $915 million to the “Growth AMC,” which will target offtake agreements spanning 8 to 10 years with 10 to 15 companies. Frontier will also continue to support “high-potential breakthrough ideas” through prepurchases of removal credits, small offtakes and research grants.
The funding will be welcome news for the carbon removal sector, which was roiled in April by reports that Microsoft, by far the largest purchaser of removals to date, was slowing its buying. The market got another boost last week when the Science Based Targets initiative said it will require companies to use removals to cover a small but steadily increasing proportion of their ongoing emissions from 2035 onwards.
Removal pathways
Frontier did not disclose details of the projects it is targeting for future funding, but it did share estimates of cost and removal potential of various mechanisms, based on recent learnings.
- Top of the list is surficial mineralization, which involves grinding and exposing to air rocks that absorb carbon dioxide. The mining industry has already developed the necessary technology, and large amounts of mining waste are currently available. Frontier estimates that the approach could capture in excess of 10 gigatons (Gt) annually at a cost of $80-$120/ton. The approach is currently being tested in small-scale trials.
- Crushed rocks can also be added to ocean waters to trigger reactions that draw down CO2. Frontier said the potential here also exceeds 10 Gt annually, with costs in the $100-$200/ton range. British Airways, Stripe and Shopify are among the companies that have backed early projects in this area.
- Projects that store CO2 captured by plants could remove 1-5 Gt annually at a cost of $60-$200/ton, Frontier estimates. Microsoft is a backer of one of the largest projects in this area: Stockholm Exergi, a utility that burns forest residues and other organic waste to generate electricity while capturing the carbon produced in the process.
Anthropic’s involvement is notable given that large AI model-builders have announced few sustainability initiatives to date. Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI, its most prominent rival, disclosed emissions to the Foundation Model Transparency Index, a research initiative that makes public information on AI safety, data use, environmental impacts and other issues.
