Frontier, the carbon removal buyer backed by Google, Shopify and Workday, has signed an $11.7m offtake deal with Oman's 44.01 for 20,932 tonnes of CO2 removal between 2028 and 2031. The startup injects dissolved CO2 into magnesium-rich rock about 1,000 metres underground at a site in Fujairah, UAE, where it reacts to form solid carbonates. This is Frontier's first purchase using in-situ mineralisation. The CO2 for the deal comes from biogas at a wastewater treatment plant, making it biogenic rather than fossil-sourced. 44.01 has already expanded injection capacity tenfold and is targeting up to 20 tonnes per day. The project is expected to produce real operating data on injection rates, water use and costs, which will help show whether rock-based storage can scale beyond pilot phase. A separate pilot with Holcim at a UAE cement plant is testing the approach on industrial emissions.
