Nairobi-based climate startup Flux has sold Africa’s first carbon dioxide removal credits using crushed basalt — volcanic rock, Bloomberg reports. The trade, made on Kenya’s CYNK platform, saw the company presell credits based on the future removal of 540 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere to Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund for USD 370 per ton.

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How is the carbon removed? The startup uses enhanced weathering which pulverizes specific rock types like basalt and disperses the resulting particles over vast areas. These rock fragments interact with rainwater, accelerating the natural process of carbon dioxide absorption. The absorbed CO2 is subsequently carried into the oceans, where it can be sequestered for centuries or millennia.

More plans on the horizon: Flux’s initial project involves spreading basalt on a 600-hectare sugar cane plantation in Kenya. The company has also signed agreements to implement the technique in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, Flux will collaborate with the government, while in Cameroon, it will work with an agribusiness to spread basalt across 205k hectares of cornfields.

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