Carbon removal buyer coalition Frontier announced that it has facilitated carbon removal offtake agreements of more than $31 million with Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) technology company Planetary, from buyers including Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability, Autodesk, H&M Group, and Workday.
Under the new agreements, Planetary will deliver 115,000 tons of carbon removals between 2026 and 2030, generated through a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the ocean for thousands of years, marking the largest-ever OAE carbon removal agreement to date.
Founded in 2019, Canada-based Planetary is developing OAE methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also addressing ocean acidification by restoring coastal waters’ ability to absorb CO2 through seawater restoration. The company’s process adds a pure antacid to seawater, adding alkalinity, and neutralizing CO2 and carbonic acid in the water in the form of neutral salts, which are durable stored in the ocean for over 10,000 years. With the CO2 removed from the water, space is opened up for the air-sea-gas exchange process for more CO2 from the air to be absorbed into the ocean.
The new agreement will expand Planetary’s Tufts Cove, Nova Scotia pilot project that recently delivered the world’s first verified OAE tons, with the next phase of operations starting carbon removal deliveries in 2026.
Planetary CEO Mike Kelland said:
“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 highlighted several key benefits of Planetary’s OAE process, including its potential path to scale to billions of tons of carbon removal annually at a price of $50 – $160 per ton, as well as environmental benefits from addressing acidification, improving conditions for local marine ecosystems. The organization also noted Planetary’s measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) process, which addresses challenges of measuring carbon removal in the ocean by dissolving alkaline minerals before releasing them in the ocean, and through the use of sensors and validated computational models to measure the effects of the added alkalinity.
In addition to the direct buyers, through Frontier’s partnership with Watershed, companies including Aledade, Canva, Match Group, Samsara, SKIMS, Skyscanner, Wise, and Zendesk will also participate in the purchases.
Hannah Bebbington, Head of Deployment at Frontier, said:
“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.”
