Latest news with #Aircapture
Zawya
23-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
44.01's carbon sequestration pilot in the UAE wins $1mln XFACTOR award
44.01's and Aircapture's Project Hajar in the UAE was announced as the strongest performer in the Air category of the XPRIZE's carbon removal competition and awarded a $1 million XFACTOR prize. The award recognises 44.01's ground breaking carbon dioxide removal technology that the judges believe warrant further exploration, potentially leading to significant breakthroughs in the field. More than 1,300 teams from nearly 80 countries competed and Project Hajar was declared one of the 20 finalists in May 2024 with the winners announced in New York on Wednesday. The project, supported by ADNOC and the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation, is being implemented in the emirate of Fujairah, uses Aircapture's Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to capture CO2 from the air, which 44.01 then mineralises, ensuring it can never escape back into the atmosphere providing a permanent and safe solution for CO2 sequestration. After successfully converting 10 metric tonnes of CO2 to rock within 100 days, Project Hajar is now targeting conversion of 300 metric tonnes of CO2 under the first phase. 44.01 has raised a total of $42 million in A series funding within a year with proceeds aimed at developing and commercialising its technology, and enabling its international expansion targeting a potential removal of gigatons of CO2 in the future. The Omani company has received backing from very high profile technology pioneers like Sam Altman and Bill Gates. (Writing by Sowmya Sundar; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
Zawya
23-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Project Hajar wins $1mln XFACTOR award for innovative carbon removal solution
The project demonstrated potential to reach gigatonne scale carbon removal • 44.01 now working to scale deployment and expand internationally New York: 44.01's and Aircapture's Project Hajar was today announced as the strongest performer in the Air category of the XPRIZE's carbon removal competition and awarded a $1 million XFACTOR prize. The project, based in Fujairah, UAE, uses Aircapture's Direct Air Capture technology to capture CO2 from the air, which 44.01 then mineralises, ensuring it can never escape back into the atmosphere. The four-year global XPRIZE competition challenged teams around the world to develop high-quality carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions that are scalable to gigatonne level. More than 1,300 teams from nearly 80 countries competed. 20 finalists were selected in May 2024, with the winners announced in New York today. Project Hajar is one of the world's first projects to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it durably underground. The XPRIZE Judges felt the project represents a compelling example of a sustainable, high-quality, scalable carbon removal solution with potential to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change. 44.01 was supported by ADNOC and the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation throughout the project. Talal Hasan, Founder and CEO of 44.01, said 'The success of Project Hajar is testament to the leading role our region can play in decarbonising our atmosphere, providing new jobs and opportunities as we navigate the energy transition. Our climate needs decarbonisation solutions that can be deployed at scale, and we are working hard to scale up our technology in the Middle East and export it around the world.' 44.01 has demonstrated its mineralisation technology in Oman and the UAE and is now working to scale its technology and expand internationally. Mineralisation can be deployed on every continent and can play a significant role in helping remove CO2 from the atmosphere, decarbonise heavy industries and help countries reach their Net Zero ambitions. Matt Atwood, Founder and CEO of Aircapture, said 'This recognition from XPRIZE underscores the strength of our vision for deploying carbon removal infrastructure that is both rapidly scalable and economically viable. While many are focused on future capabilities, our modular system is already operating in the field—delivering measurable results today. We're honored that the XPRIZE judges acknowledged the commercial and technical merits of our approach, which is designed for near-term impact and long-term scalability.' 'At this critical turning point for our planet, the technologies developed by these winning teams represent hope with a broad range of approaches that are suitable for different geographies and can help the world reach net zero and ultimately reverse climate change,' said Anousheh Ansari, chief executive officer, XPRIZE. 'We cannot stabilize our climate without sustainably and safely extracting carbon from our atmosphere and oceans at large scales. I'm incredibly proud of the ways this XPRIZE competition catalyzed and fostered the innovation and collaboration necessary to build this critical new industry that was missing prior to our competition.' About 44.01 44.01 eliminates CO2 by turning it into rock. The company's pioneering technology accelerates the natural process of CO2 mineralisation to remove CO2 permanently in less than twelve months. 44.01 takes CO2 captured from the atmosphere, or from hard-to-abate industrial processes, helping decarbonise vital industries and ultimately return the atmosphere to sustainable levels of CO2. The process is safe, scalable and lasts forever. About Aircapture Aircapture, headquartered in Berkeley, CA, is a leader in the deployment of direct air capture (DAC) solutions, delivering atmospheric CO₂ as a circular commodity for industrial and commercial customers. As the first truly modular DAC solution, Aircapture offers unparalleled flexibility, enabling customers to seamlessly integrate clean CO₂ into their production processes on-site. Founded in 2019, Aircapture is pioneering global projects in carbon sequestration, industrial decarbonization, and localized CO₂ supply. With a dedicated team of engineers, chemists, and entrepreneurs, Aircapture is redefining how carbon is captured, utilized, and recycled, driving the transition to a circular carbon economy. About XPRIZE XPRIZE is the recognized global leader in designing and executing large-scale competitions to solve humanity's greatest challenges. For over 30 years, our unique model has democratized innovation by incentivizing crowd-sourced innovation and scientifically viable solutions that accelerate a more equitable and abundant future. Donate, learn more, and co-architect a world of abundance with us at XPRIZE Carbon Removal is funded by the Musk Foundation.
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Carbon Removed: How XPRIZE Winners Aim To Reshape The Climate
XPRIZE judges visiting Project Hajar, a collaboration between Aircapture and Oman-based 44.01, pairs ... More direct air capture with in-situ mineralization—turning captured CO₂ into rock via peridotite formations in the Omani desert. There's something thrilling about betting on the edge of impossible. That's what the $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition set out to do when it launched in 2021: a moonshot challenge to pull carbon out of the sky—or the sea, or the soil—and lock it away. Permanently. Sustainably. Affordably. Four years later, the results are in. And the winners—spanning continents, carbon pathways, and philosophical approaches to climate tech—are more than just a hopeful vignette. They're a glimpse into a future climate economy. One that, like all economies, is messy, pluralistic, and surprisingly human. Backed by the Musk Foundation and administered by XPRIZE, the Carbon Removal competition asked a simple yet audacious question: Can anyone show us a scalable way to remove 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year today, model that to a million tonnes tomorrow, and sketch a real path to billions of tonnes in the future? Over 1,300 teams from 80 countries took a swing. Twenty made it to the final testing phase, where operational rigor met sustainability checks and techno-economic scrutiny. In the end, six were crowned: one Grand Prize winner, three runners-up, and two 'XFACTOR' honorees. But these aren't just winners. They're archetypes of a new climate era. The $50 million grand prize went to India-based Mati Carbon, whose approach is as old as the Earth itself: rock weathering. The team spreads finely crushed basalt across farmland, accelerating a natural process that binds CO₂ into rock over time. What makes Mati radical isn't the chemistry—it's the system. By partnering with smallholder farmers across India, Zambia, and Tanzania, they've created a carbon removal model that boosts crop yields, enhances soil health, and puts money in farmers' pockets. It's climate tech as economic justice. It's a systems solution disguised as a mineral one. What Mati is doing isn't just carbon removal. It's reimagining development. The runners-up reveal just how wide the carbon removal tent has become: Each of these models—biochar, biowaste burial, rock weathering—succeeds by being something else as well: soil improvement, pollution prevention, financial innovation. Carbon removal, here, isn't a silo. It's an integration. Finally, two 'XFACTOR' winners—each earning $1 million—were honoured for pushing the envelope. Canada's Planetary works with the ocean's natural chemistry, enhancing alkalinity to absorb CO₂ into stable bicarbonates. It's geoengineering with an ecological soul, aiming to cool the planet without tipping marine ecosystems. Project Hajar, a collaboration between Aircapture and Oman-based 44.01, pairs direct air capture with in-situ mineralization—turning captured CO₂ into rock via peridotite formations in the Omani desert. It's a science fiction vision brought just barely into reach. These winners aren't the final answer. They're the proof points. What this XPRIZE has done—like its predecessors in spaceflight and ocean discovery—isn't just anoint the best of today, but accelerate the possible for tomorrow. Each team offers a wedge of the puzzle. No single approach will remove the tens of gigatonnes we'll need to reach net zero by 2050. But together? Together they sketch a portfolio—soil-based, oceanic, geologic, engineered—each with different strengths, timelines, and trade-offs. That pluralism is the point. In a problem space as wicked and multivalent as climate change, you don't want a silver bullet. You want a silver buckshot. 'Reaching this point is a monumental achievement for the carbon removal industry. Over the last four years, more than 8,400 dedicated individuals - from scientists and engineers to students and technologists – were mobilized to advance solutions to this pressing global challenge.' said Nikki Batchelor, Executive Director, XPRIZE Carbon Removal. 'Now we are in a race against time to scale the most promising solutions, and have an impressive cohort of 20 Finalists ready to go who all received strong reviews by the Judges as compelling examples of high-quality, scalable carbon removal solutions,' Still, questions remain. Can these approaches get cheap enough? Can they scale without backlash? Will the voluntary carbon market hold? And what role should governments play in guiding, regulating, and subsidizing these technologies? What XPRIZE has shown—again—is that when you throw down the gauntlet, people will rise. What comes next will depend less on engineering and more on institutions: policies, financing mechanisms, public trust. The hard tech is here. The harder part—systems, incentives, deployment—is only just beginning. But if these winners are any indication, we're not short on imagination. We're just getting started. Disclaimer: I work for Canadian carbon removals project developer, Deep Sky.
