Adnoc, 44.01 to scale up carbon-to-rock project following successful pilot

ADNOC and 44.01 have announced plans to scale-up their carbon-to-rock project in the Emirate of Fujairah, following the successful completion of their pilot, in partnership with the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation (FNRC) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar).

The announcement was made at ADIPEC, currently taking place in Abu Dhabi.

The initial pilot of 44.01’s Earthshot prize-winning mineralisation technology commenced in 2023 and permanently mineralised 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) within Fujairah’s peridotite rock formations in under 100 days. Building on this achievement, the first phase of scale-up will inject more than 300 tonnes of CO2 over a longer duration to demonstrate the potential of the technology to be deployed at scale in the UAE.

Ali Qasem, Director-General of the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation, commented on the project, saying, “The carbon conversion project in the Emirate of Fujairah marks a significant step toward a more sustainable future. We are committed to supporting such innovative technologies that strengthen our efforts to achieve sustainable development goals. The presence of peridotite formations in Fujairah offers unique potential to implement projects like this on a large scale, helping us reduce our carbon footprint and support environmental strategies.”

The Emirate of Fujairah was selected for this pilot due to its abundance of peridotite, a form of rock that naturally reacts with CO2 to mineralise it. At scale, peridotite mineralisation could eliminate billions of tons of carbon emissions, helping decarbonise vital industries and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Sophie Hildebrand, ADNOC Chief Technology Officer, said, “Technology is a key enabler of ADNOC’s decarbonisation strategy, and we are pleased to have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of 44.01’s mineralisation technology in Fujairah. Carbon capture is an important tool to reduce carbon emissions and meet global climate goals and we look forward to scaling-up this project and confirming the commercial viability of carbon mineralisation.”

44.01, supported by ADNOC and FNRC, is scaling up operations in Fujairah as they compete for the Carbon Removal XPRIZE. The project was named one of the XPRIZE’s Top 20 projects earlier in 2024.

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

During the initial pilot, operations were powered by renewable energy provided by Masdar. The CO2 was captured directly from the atmosphere, dissolved in seawater and injected into peridotite formations deep underground, where it mineralised – ensuring the CO2 can never escape back into the atmosphere. The first phase of the scale-up will build on this process.

As part of ADNOC’s carbon management strategy, the company is targeting a carbon capture capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) 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.

WAM