Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The Swiss climate project developer South Pole and the Japanese trading company Mitsubishi Corp have joined forces to develop the world’s largest purchase facility for innovative carbon removal technologies.
The world’s largest carbon removal tech project is this 5.1 billion dollars biomass carbon removal and storage project in the U.S. (© Summit Carbon Solutions).
First global facility
Many scientists believe that besides switching to renewable energy sources, the deployment of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technology will also be necessary to achieve the world’s climate goals. But early-stage technologies for removing CO2 from the atmosphere are costly. Numerous countries have introduced prices for CO2 emissions, but often they are insufficient to incentivize the adoption of such methods.
The South Pole/Mitsubishi Corporation joint venture with the name “NexGen” will establish the world’s largest diversified portfolio of permanent carbon dioxide removals to scale up carbon removal technologies and catalyze the market for high-quality carbon removals. NextGen is the first global facility that specializes in innovative carbon removal technologies.
The joint venture has announced the advance purchase of approx. 200,000 tons of carbon removal credits from removal projects. NextGen plans to purchase over one million carbon removal credits by 2025, thus advancing the development of this market. The joint venture will constitute the world’s largest diversified portfolio of such credits once delivered.
Carbo Culture in Finland converts atmospheric CO2 with photosynthesis into plant matter and then into a stable form of pure carbon (© Carbo Culture).
Advancing technologies
The advance purchase of carbon removals will include credits for the world’s largest tech carbon removal project, the Summit Carbon Solutions’ biomass carbon removal and storage project being implemented in the Midwestern region of the United States with an investment of 5.1 billion dollars.
NextGen will also buy carbon removal credits from the world’s largest-scale Direct Air Capture and Storage project, being developed by 1PointFive in Texas, and the climate tech company Carbo Culture’s inaugural high-technology biochar project in Finland which uses photosynthesis to capture CO2 from the atmosphere.
NextGen is backed by foundation buyers who lead this industry, namely the Japanese freight shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Boston Consulting Group, the asset manager LGT from Liechtenstein, the reinsurance company Swiss Re, and the Swiss banking group UBS.
By bringing together high-integrity buyers and sellers of certified carbon removal credits, NextGen is helping to create the conditions the market needs to scale: making credits accessible for corporate buyers with an average target price of $200 per ton, enabling risk diversification through a portfolio approach, and providing access to deep market expertise.
You can learn more about the Swiss climate project developer South Pole by reading our report about the SCCIJ Luncheon in December where Patrick Buergi, co-founder, and director of innovation at South Pole, talked about “climate neutrality and net zero for companies”.
Text: SCCIJ based on the material of Mitsubishi Corp
