In April, Nova Scotia’s Planetary Technologies won the XPRIZE Carbon Removal XFACTOR Award, receiving $1 million for pioneering work in seawater restoration to combat climate change.
The recognition followed a Series A raise of capital in 2024.
Planetary’s approach aims to restore the ocean’s natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide attempting to rebalance seawater chemistry. By introducing purified alkaline minerals into the ocean, Planetary enhances the water’s natural ability to absorb and store CO₂ as stable bicarbonate ions.
Through partnerships with water treatment facilities and integration with existing infrastructure, the Halifax-born company can assist coastal waters sequester more carbon, reduce acidity, and support marine ecosystems.
Unlike biological approaches, Planetary’s tactic works through the ocean’s chemical buffering system, avoiding disruption to carbon cycling and food webs.
This week, Frontier Climate committed to offtake agreements with Planetary. Frontier buyers will pay Planetary over $31 million to remove more than 115,000 tons of CO₂ between 2026 and 2030.
“This offtake with Frontier buyers allows us to demonstrate that ocean alkalinity enhancement can safely and effectively remove CO₂ beyond small-scale trials,” stated Mike Kelland, chief executive officer of Planetary, who cofounded the upstart alongside Greg Rau in 2019. “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 is a market commitment to buy $1B of permanent carbon removal between 2022 and 2030. It was founded by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, McKinsey and tens of thousands of businesses using Stripe Climate.
“Ocean alkalinity enhancement can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere extremely cheaply and efficiently,” says Hannah Bebbington of Frontier, “but expanding it beyond small-scale trials calls for ironclad measurement and safety protocols, alongside addressing community concerns.”
Planetary, Bebbington says, “is taking on these challenges head on with a rigorous [Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification] 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,” she stated.