The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and carbon-mineralization startup 44.01 announced on 5 November week that their first CO₂-to-rock pilot in the UAE successfully converted 10 metric tons of CO₂ into rock within 100 days.
Following the pilot, the companies aim to advance the technology through a larger project targeting the injection of 300 metric tons of CO₂. The companies said the planned scaleup marks a step toward commercializing the emerging CO₂ sequestration technology.
The announcement, made during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), did not disclose a specific timeline for the expanded project.
The pilot site is in the northern Emirate of Fujairah, where peridotite rock, rich in magnesium, is naturally abundant. The magnesium-laden rock reacts with CO₂, converting the gas into magnesite, which expands the rock's volume and creates stress that fractures and cracks rock on a large scale.
The key to success for 44.01—named after CO₂’s molecular mass—involves its ability to accelerate the chemical reaction to generate enough fractures to expose a sufficiently large volume for mineralizing millions of tons of CO₂ annually.
44.01 estimates that, at scale, its mineralization technology could sequester billions of tons of CO₂ emissions. Speaking at ADIPEC, 44.01 founder and CEO Talal Hasan noted that injections for the next phase of the project may begin as soon as next month.
“We've proven that the technology is safe, we've proven it is permanent, we've proven that it is commercially feasible, and then this next stage is where we actually start to generate enough carbon credits that is viable as well,” Hasan said.
He added that scaling up the technology is now the primary challenge facing 44.01, but that many of the resources needed—such as drilling capabilities and access to supply chains—will be enabled by its relationship with ADNOC.
The pilot used direct air capture technology to extract CO₂ from the atmosphere, which was then mixed with seawater and injected into deep peridotite formations. The project was conducted in partnership with the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation (FNRC) and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), which provided solar power to run the entire project.
At ADIPEC, Hasan noted that “what we are doing is disruptive because we provide optionality” beyond the sedimentary formations or depleted reservoirs that many oil and gas companies are considering for CO₂ storage. He highlighted Fujairah as an example of a region lacking spent oil and gas reservoirs suitable for CO₂ storage.
In July of this year, 44.01 completed a $37-million Series A funding round led by Equinor’s venture capital arm and featuring other investors from the UAE, Air Liquide’s venture arm, and Amazon’s climate-focused fund, among others.
As part of its carbon management strategy, ADNOC aims to achieve a carbon capture capacity of 10 mtpa by 2030—a reduction it says is equivalent to removing more than 2 million internal combustion vehicles from the roads. The company noted that its current investments will soon raise its carbon capture capacity to approximately 4 mtpa.
“Technology is a key enabler of ADNOC’s decarbonization strategy, and we are pleased to have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of 44.01’s mineralization technology in Fujairah. 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,” said Sophie Hildebrand, chief technology officer for ADNOC, in a statement.
