What it is
Frontier is an advance market commitment (AMC) founded by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey to accelerate the development of permanent carbon removal technologies. It aggregates over $1 billion in pre-purchase commitments by 2030, providing the demand signal that early-stage removal companies need to scale. Frontier evaluates and purchases from companies offering biochar, direct air capture, enhanced weathering, ocean alkalinity enhancement, and other durable removal pathways.
Why we picked this
Permanent carbon removal technologies exist but are too expensive to scale without guaranteed demand. Frontier solves the chicken-and-egg problem: removal companies need customers to reduce costs, and customers need lower costs to buy. By aggregating billion-dollar commitments from tech giants, Frontier creates the market pull that venture capital alone cannot provide.
Key takeaways
- Frontier has facilitated over $1 billion in advance purchase commitments for permanent carbon removal, the largest demand signal in the CDR market.
- The coalition purchases from 20+ removal companies across 6 technology pathways, diversifying risk across the emerging sector.
- Frontier's purchasing criteria require permanence of 1,000+ years, distinguishing it from traditional offset programs that accept shorter-duration storage.