A coalition of major corporate players, including McKinsey and Google, has committed $41 million to purchase carbon removal credits from a biomass energy project in Louisiana in the US.
The project, set to begin operations near the Gulf Coast by 2028, aims to produce clean energy while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) — a process that turns forest waste into energy and captures the resulting CO₂ for underground storage.
Arbor, founded by a former SpaceX engineer, is positioning its facility as a next-generation solution in the carbon removal space. Backed by the Frontier coalition, the group of investors will acquire 116,000 carbon removal credits, marking one of the largest private-sector endorsements of BECCS technology to date.
The technology used by Arbor includes gasifying forest thinnings into a synthetic gas (syngas), which is then burned in pure oxygen. This process results in a supercritical CO₂ stream that is easier and cheaper to capture. The method also improves energy efficiency by more than 30% compared to traditional BECCS systems.
Although the current cost of removing one tonne of CO₂ exceeds $350, coalition members believe that costs can fall below $100 per tonne as technology improves and scales.
“Supporting projects like Arbor’s is essential for accelerating solutions that can take carbon out of the air reliably,” a Frontier representative said. “It’s a big step toward making this kind of carbon removal more affordable and scalable.”
Arbor’s design also allows for modular expansion, meaning the system can be scaled up significantly without a corresponding rise in cost, a key factor in keeping future prices low.
Concerns around the sustainability of biomass sourcing have often clouded similar projects, but Arbor says its model is environmentally sound. It uses forest thinnings from commercial plantations — materials that would otherwise go to waste — and monitors sourcing through third-party verification to ensure no natural forests are harmed.
Microsoft, another leader in carbon removal investments, has already secured nearly 10 million BECCS credits this year from various projects globally, highlighting the growing momentum behind carbon capture initiatives.
With large companies investing in long-term carbon removal strategies, Arbor’s project signals growing industry interest in BECCS as a viable path to achieving climate goals.
