Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Omani firm 44.01 plan to scale up their project to transform carbon dioxide into minerals after successfully completing a pilot initiative.

Both companies partnered with the Fujairah Natural Resources Corp. and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., also known as Masdar, to mineralize 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide within Fujairah’s peridotite rock formations in less than 100 days.

Peridotites are dense igneous rocks that mineralize CO2 naturally over decades, but 44.01 accelerates the transformation in less than a year.

During the pilot, the Muscat-based startup captured CO2 directly from the atmosphere, dissolved it in seawater and injected it into peridotite formations deep underground, where it mineralized, ensuring the gas could never escape into the atmosphere. Masdar powered this operation using renewable energy.

“Technology is a key enabler of ADNOC’s decarbonization strategy, and we are pleased to have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of 44.01’s mineralization technology in Fujairah,” said ADNOC Chief Technology Officer Sophie Hildebrand in the statement.

Building on this achievement, both companies will expand the project to mineralize 300 tonnes of carbon emissions.

“Our pilot project with ADNOC demonstrated the viability of carbon mineralization in the UAE. We are pleased to be collaborating on scaling up operations and continuing to refine our technology to demonstrate commerciality,” said 44.01 CEO Talal Hasan in the statement.

In 2022, 44.01 won the Earthshot Prize for their mineralization technique and have since worked to scale up their operations.

The successful pilot project marks a significant milestone in the efforts to combat climate change through innovative technological solutions.

As part of ADNOC’s carbon management strategy, the company is targeting a carbon capture capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum by 2030, equivalent to taking over 2 million internal combustion vehicles off the road.

The company has embarked on major carbon capture projects, taking its committed investment for carbon capture capacity to almost 4 mtpa.

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