Google has announced that as part of its net-zero targets, it contracted over $100 million in carbon removal credits last year, three times that of the previous year.
The technology group said that it made the commitment to ‘catalyse carbon removal solutions that both Google and the world need’, supporting a variety of projects to explore removing CO2 from the atmosphere, alongside buying consortium Frontier.
Forestry projects
One area in which Google has been seeking to sequester CO2 at scale is through its co-founding of Symbiosis, which seeks to establish rigorous measurement criteria for forestry projects and pool demand from corporate buyers.
Through Frontier, it also funded CarbonRun, a project aimed at restoring waterways while capturing CO2.
Enhanced rock weathering
Google has also upped its investment in enhanced rock weathering (ERW), supporting Terradot and other ERW suppliers worldwide to advance deployment and refine measurement techniques.
On biomass waste management, the online giant said that it is ‘pursuing promising opportunities to divert that carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock it away for centuries’, through its support for the CO280 initiative, along with biochar projects such as Varaha and Charm.
Direct air capture
Elsewhere, Google has also invested in direct air capture (DAC) technology, backing firms such as Holocene, which set the lowest price target ever for direct air capture credits, as well as 280 Earth, an Alphabet-incubated venture focused on technological breakthroughs in carbon capture.
‘Just beginning’
‘We’re encouraged by our progress, but the journey to catalyse carbon removal is just beginning,’ Google noted. ‘In the year ahead, we will continue to expand our support for carbon removal as part of our ongoing effort to find the solutions the world needs and maximise their impact on the planet. We’ll also remain open to other approaches that can help drive rapid, near-term action to mitigate climate change.
‘And since Google can’t achieve this alone, we’ll continue to help other players, from companies to academics, work collectively to accelerate the solutions the world needs now and in the future.’ Read more here.
