Planetary secures $31m ocean carbon deal

Frontier, a coalition focused on carbon removal, has announced the facilitation of over $31 million in carbon removal offtake agreements with Planetary, a company specialising in Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) technology. Notable buyers in this agreement include Stripe, Google, Shopify, McKinsey Sustainability, Autodesk, H&M Group, and Workday.

Under these new agreements, Planetary is set to deliver 115,000 tons of carbon removals between 2026 and 2030. This is achieved through a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the ocean for millennia, representing the largest OAE carbon removal agreement to date.

Planetary, founded in 2019 and based in Canada, is advancing OAE methods to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while mitigating ocean acidification. The company’s process involves adding a pure antacid to seawater, which increases alkalinity and neutralises CO2 and carbonic acid into neutral salts. These salts are stored in the ocean for over 10,000 years. With CO2 removed from the water, more atmospheric CO2 can be absorbed by the ocean through the air-sea-gas exchange process.

The agreement will expand Planetary’s pilot project at Tufts Cove, Nova Scotia, which recently completed the world’s first verified OAE tons. The next phase of operations will commence carbon removal deliveries in 2026.

Planetary CEO Mike Kelland remarked, “This offtake with Frontier buyers allows us to demonstrate that ocean alkalinity enhancement can safely and effectively remove CO₂ beyond small-scale trials. This approach could be the cheapest and most scalable carbon removal solution. We’re eager to show how it can be rolled out responsibly.”

Frontier has highlighted several advantages of Planetary’s OAE process, including its potential scalability to billions of tons of carbon removal annually at costs ranging from $50 to $160 per ton. The process also offers environmental benefits by combating acidification and enhancing conditions for local marine ecosystems. Frontier noted Planetary’s comprehensive measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) process, which tackles the challenges of measuring carbon removal in the ocean by dissolving alkaline minerals before ocean release and employing sensors and validated computational models to gauge the effects of added alkalinity.

In addition to direct buyers, companies such as Aledade, Canva, Match Group, Samsara, SKIMS, Skyscanner, Wise, and Zendesk will participate in these purchases through Frontier’s partnership with Watershed.

Hannah Bebbington, Head of Deployment at Frontier, stated, “Ocean alkalinity enhancement can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere extremely cheaply and efficiently. But expanding it beyond small-scale trials calls for ironclad measurement and safety protocols, alongside addressing community concerns. Planetary is taking on these challenges head on with a rigorous MRV approach and thoughtful community engagement at their Tufts Cove site. This is the right project and team to pave the way forward for this promising pathway.”