Frontier’s $1B Bet on Carbon Removal

Hannah Bebbington is the Head of Deployment at Frontier, an advanced market commitment created in 2022, that aims to purchase $1 billion or more of permanent carbon removal by 2030. 

Founded by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey, Frontier has quickly become a leading force in the carbon removal space. Its portfolio includes a "who’s who" of innovators pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in carbon removal—many of whom have been guests on this show. 

Cody catches up with Hannah to explore how Frontier’s program is structured, what they’ve learned so far, and her perspective on the state of carbon removal today.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:03] What is Frontier? An intro to its $1B commitment to carbon removal
• [7:00] The scale of the carbon removal challenge and future funding needs
• [10:42] Gaps in the industry: demand, investment, and measurement
• [13:21] Hannah’s background and role as Head of Deployment
• [16:10] Frontier’s advanced market commitment model explained
• [18:05] How Frontier supports early-stage companies through pre-purchases
• [21:32] Tips for startups applying to Frontier’s programs
• [27:19] Frontier’s offtake track for scaling larger projects
• [30:16] The importance of measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV)
• [35:05] Frontier’s criteria for funding: scale, cost, and permanence
• [42:14] Microsoft’s role as a leader in carbon removal
• [47:24] Key terms in Frontier’s offtake agreements
• [55:08] The impact of the data center boom on carbon removal
• [57:01] Carbon removal’s bipartisan support and policy outlook

Recommended Listening:

• MCJ Startup Series: Charm Industrial
• Permanent Geologic Carbon Storage with Vaulted Deep
• Enhanced Rock Weathering with Lithos Carbon
• Carbon Removal and Climate Policy with Heirloom and Senator Scott Wiener

Episode recorded on Nov 22, 2024 (Published on Dec 9, 2024)

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