ADNOC and 44.01 have announced plans to expand their carbon-to-rock project in 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 two companies made the announcement during ADIPEC 2024, currently taking place in Abu Dhabi.
“The carbon conversion project in the emirate of Fujairah marks a significant step toward a more sustainable future. 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,” stated Engineer Ali Qasem, director general of FNRC.
First phase to inject 300 tons of carbon dioxide
The initial pilot of 44.01’s Earthshot prize-winning mineralization technology commenced in 2023 and permanently mineralized 10 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) within Fujairah’s peridotite rock formations in under 100 days. Building on this achievement, the first phase of expansion will inject more than 300 tons of carbon dioxide over a longer duration to demonstrate the potential of the technology.
ADNOC and 44.01 selected the emirate of Fujairah for this pilot due to its abundance of peridotite, a form of rock that naturally reacts with CO2 to mineralize it. At scale, peridotite mineralization could eliminate billions of tons of carbon emissions, helping decarbonize vital industries and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
“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 mineralization,” added Sophie Hildebrand, ADNOC chief technology officer.
ADNOC’s carbon management strategy
During the initial pilot, Masdar powered operations by renewable energy. ADNOC and 44.01 captured the carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, dissolved it in seawater, and injected it into peridotite formations deep underground, where it mineralized. This process ensures that 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 tons per annum by 2030. That is equivalent to taking over two 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 four million tons per annum.
Meanwhile, 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.
“Our pilot project with ADNOC demonstrated the viability of carbon mineralization 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,” added Talal Hasan, CEO of 44.01.
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