A coalition of corporate carbon removal buyers, including McKinsey and Google, has committed $41 million towards a novel approach to biomass energy that promises round-the-clock electricity generation while permanently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The Frontier coalition, which also includes Stripe and Meta, announced this week that it will purchase 116,000 carbon removal credits from Arbor, a start-up founded by a former SpaceX engineer. Arbor is pioneering a more efficient version of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and plans to build a facility near Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, set to become operational in 2028.
The agreement is part of a broader surge of interest in BECCS, a technology increasingly viewed as essential to achieving net-zero targets. Microsoft alone has secured nearly 10 million BECCS credits from projects across Norway, Louisiana, and Sweden since April.
Arbor claims its system improves BECCS performance in three key areas. Instead of directly burning biomass, the company uses a newly designed gasifier to convert it into syngas—a blend of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This gas is then combusted in pure oxygen, producing a high-efficiency supercritical stream of CO₂, which powers a turbine. Unlike traditional BECCS, which relies on steam turbines, this method streamlines the energy generation process while enabling simpler CO₂ capture and storage.
According to Frontier, these advances improve energy conversion efficiency by over 30%. Moreover, because Arbor’s process yields only carbon dioxide and water—rather than a broader mixture of gases—CO₂ separation for underground storage is more cost-effective.
Despite the high upfront cost—over $350 per carbon credit—the coalition anticipates that prices could drop below $100 per tonne of CO₂ as the technology scales. The integrated nature of Arbor’s system, combining power generation and carbon capture, is expected to generate exponential gains. “One of the amazing features of their technology is that the output does not scale linearly with the size of the facility,” said Hannah Bebbington, head of deployment at Frontier. “That is an incredible cost saving, right as you’re thinking about the economics of the next facility.”
While BECCS is a cornerstone of many global climate strategies, concerns persist over the environmental impact of biomass sourcing. The Drax power station in the UK, for example, has faced criticism for sourcing wood from primary forests. Recent modelling of proposed BECCS projects in the southeastern United States—where Arbor plans to operate—warns that increased demand for biomass may lead to forest conversion and biodiversity loss.
A key issue is how “waste” biomass is defined. As demand rises, forest thinning and other previously unharvested materials may be commercially exploited. “We like to use the word waste to just stop thinking about all the upstream dynamics,” said Freya Chay, carbon removal lead at the non-profit Carbon Plan.
To mitigate such risks, Frontier has established sustainable biomass sourcing principles. Arbor’s project has been approved in part due to its use of thinnings from commercial plantations—typically left to decay or burned. Moreover, the project adheres to a methodology developed by the Isometric registry, requiring third-party verification to prevent substitution with unsanctioned biomass sources.
The initiative marks a significant step forward in BECCS innovation and demonstrates growing private sector investment in emerging carbon removal solutions. However, long-term success will depend on maintaining strict sustainability standards and ensuring transparency in biomass sourcing.
