Carbon-removal coalition known as Frontier is adding another $915 million to support their removal technologies, writes Reuters. The group is backed by Big Tech (major technology firms, including Stripe and Google), was launched in 2022, and now has total funding pledges of $1.8 billion.
Artificial intelligence firm Anthropic (the company behind the Claude model) has also joined the coalition as a new member, a move adding another major AI actor to an organisation that uses advance purchase commitments to help carbon-removal startups scale faster and reduce investment risks.
The increased funding should back long-term bets on innovative, emerging removal methods. According to the report, Frontier plans to sign offtake contracts of 8-10 years (buying a certain amount of carbon-removal credits from a company over several years, even before the technology is fully scaled) for techs such as direct air capture, enhanced rock weathering, biomass-based removal, and ocean alkalinity enhancement. All of these could theoretically grow in a significant way, but as of now face cost and technical risks.