With CO2 removal being the foundation of the conservation and sustainability efforts that Prince William is leading through the Eartshot Prize, the official social media page just asked the question: “What if we could remove CO2 from our atmosphere for good?”
To answer this, the award highlighted Omani climate technology startup 44.01, which is working to permanently remove carbon by locking it in rocks.
In the caption, the team wrote: “By accelerating a natural process that normally takes thousands to millions of years, their breakthrough technology mineralizes CO₂ in just a year or two. With $47 million raised to scale globally, they’re proving that bold science can have a real impact on the climate.”
The key to removing CO2 from the atmosphere for good:
“It started with peridotite. A type of reactive rock found abundantly in Oman and throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australasia. It naturally absorbs CO2, nature’s climate solution,” the post explained in one of the images.
“In nature, this mineralization usually takes thousands to millions of years.
44.01 speeds this up by injecting carbonated water deep underground into reactive rock such as peridotite, turning CO2 into solid rock within a year or two.
Goals:
According to the post, 44.01 aims to mineralize 1 billion tons of CO2 by 2040, which is “the equivalent of taking every car in the EU and Britain off the road for more than a year,” according to the organization’s official Instagram account.
In fact, the founder and CEO has spoken out since winning the award, saying: “Winning the Earthshot Prize has made a huge difference to January 44. It has raised our profile, opened new partnerships and accelerated our scale, allowing us to mineralize more CO2 and get closer to solving our climate.”
