Lithos Carbon joins Compute for Climate Fellowship to advance carbon sequestration technology

Lithos Carbon, a company specialising in carbon sequestration, has been selected as a fellow in the second cohort of the Compute for Climate Fellowship, a global initiative aimed at supporting climate technology startups. This programme is organised by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides participants with fully-funded opportunities to develop proof-of-concept projects, leveraging advanced cloud computing capabilities to tackle significant climate challenges.

Lithos Carbon employs volcanic rock dust, a high-quality organic byproduct sourced in the United States, to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The company’s innovative approach involves spreading this rock dust on croplands, where it not only captures CO2 permanently but also enriches the soil with essential nutrients while decreasing dependency on synthetic fertilizers. The organisation is actively working with top academics to commercialise sophisticated techniques that accurately measure both the amount and rate of CO2 removal resulting from its methods.

As part of its fellowship, Lithos Carbon intends to develop computational models with several key objectives, including:

• Scaling up carbon removal processes,
• Reducing the cost of carbon capture to $100 per ton within ten years,
• Ensuring rigorous standards for quantification and maintaining transparency in the field.

The anticipated computational models are expected to simplify traditional methods that currently rely on labor-intensive soil sampling and laboratory analyses, allowing for the deployment of large-scale carbon removal across extensive agricultural areas. The partnership with AWS promises to enhance Lithos’s capabilities, with plans to launch a prototype of this modelling approach by 2025.

Recently, Lithos Carbon has also garnered recognition for its contributions to sustainable practices, including being a finalist in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Challenge, a semifinalist in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, and an awardee of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Negative Shot Pilot program in 2024.

Commenting on the announcement, Mary Yap, CEO of Lithos Carbon, expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with AWS and IRCAI. She noted the pressing need for cost-effective carbon removal solutions and shared the company’s vision to transform cropland into carbon removal centres, with the ambitious goal of capturing one billion tons of CO2 over the next decade. Yap emphasised that the pilot would establish the foundational work needed for large-scale carbon sequestration while ensuring strict quantification standards.

Dr. Elliot Chang, Head of Research Partnerships at Lithos Carbon, added that being part of this fellowship is a tremendous honour, advancing the development of essential predictive capabilities in measuring the climate impacts of enhanced rock weathering (ERW). He highlighted the importance of utilising commercial datasets—already the most extensive in the ERW industry—to inform new modelling strategies aimed at achieving scalable climate solutions.

The programme offers selected startups an intensive 2-3 month development period, which includes personalised mentorship from technical experts, AWS credits to subsidise service costs, and access to cutting-edge computing services. These services encompass quantum computing, high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative AI.

Jon Jones, AWS’s Vice President and Global Head of Startups, noted the critical timing of this initiative, as Generative AI rapidly transforms the landscape of climate solutions. He underscored the significance of supporting innovators who are addressing the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, and affirmed AWS’s commitment to aiding these pioneering efforts in making a positive impact on the planet.

Source: Noah Wire Services