United States – Frontier, a coalition of major companies and investors, has entered into a significant set of offtake agreements with Charm Industrial, marking a major milestone in the field of carbon removal.
The agreements, valued at $53 million, entail the removal and permanent underground storage of 112,000 tons of CO₂ between 2024 and 2030. The price per ton will decrease by at least 37% over this period, potentially reaching a decline of 75% based on Charm’s scaling plans and government incentives. This comprehensive pricing model encompasses the removal process, as well as the crucial measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of each ton’s safe storage.
BiCRS
Charm Industrial employs an innovative approach to carbon removal through its biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) technology. The company collects waste biomass, such as agricultural residues or biomass from forest fire management, and subjects it to pyrolysis—a high-temperature process conducted in an oxygen-deprived environment. This process converts the biomass into a carbon-rich bio-oil, which is then injected into EPA-regulated wells for permanent storage. Charm’s pyrolyzers are mobile and modular, allowing for efficient on-site operations and minimizing the need for raw biomass transportation.
With its early success in pilot processes, Charm Industrial has established itself as a leader in the emerging field of carbon removal. The utilization of waste biomass as a carbon capture method demonstrates the potential of BiCRS to achieve large-scale carbon removal, leveraging the natural ability of plants to absorb CO₂. Experts predict that by 2050, there will be abundant waste and residue biomass available globally to support annual gigatons of carbon removal through approaches like BiCRS.
The offtake agreements play a crucial role in facilitating the scalability of carbon removal projects. These agreements are legally binding contracts between suppliers and buyers, ensuring the purchase of future carbon removal quantities at agreed prices upon delivery. They provide suppliers with the necessary capital and market demand guarantees to expand their operations. For Frontier, the selection of companies for offtake agreements involves a rigorous evaluation process conducted by technical staff and a panel of 50 scientific and technical reviewers with expertise in various relevant fields.
Frontier’s founding members, including Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, McKinsey Sustainability, and companies like Autodesk, H&M Group, and Workday, are among the buyers participating in these offtake agreements. Additionally, through Frontier’s partnership with Watershed, companies such as Aledade, Boom Supersonic, Canva, SKIMS, Wise, and Zendesk will also be involved.
Low-cost carbon removal
The significance of these agreements extends beyond immediate financial transactions. By investing in and supporting carbon removal technologies like Charm Industrial’s, Frontier aims to drive down the cost curve and accelerate the path to large-scale, low-cost carbon removal. With their commitment to rigorous testing and advancements in science, operations, engineering, and finance, both Frontier and Charm Industrial are working towards the shared goal of removing billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere.
