In a significant move to combat climate change, Google and other big companies have entered into a plan to trap carbon dioxide using rocks. This innovative strategy involves enhanced rock weathering (ERW), which attempts to accelerate the natural process of breaking down rocks to release calcium and magnesium, thereby trapping CO2 in water as bicarbonate.
Multimillion-Dollar Deals with Terradot
Terradot, a startup backed by Sheryl Sandberg, has secured multimillion-dollar deals with Google and other companies, including H&M Group and Salesforce. The agreements are worth $27 million, with the aim of removing 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The deals were brokered by Frontier, a carbon removal initiative led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability.
Google’s Additional Deal
Separately, Google has announced its own deal to purchase an additional 200,000 tons of carbon removal from Terradot. While the exact cost was not disclosed, it is estimated that the deal could be worth around $60 million if the price per ton of CO2 captured is similar to the Frontier agreement.
Enhanced Rock Weathering: A Low-Tech Solution
ERW is a relatively low-tech tactic for taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The process involves crushing rocks and spreading them over a large area, increasing the surface area exposed to react with CO2. Terradot’s strategy utilizes basalt from quarries in southern Brazil, which is then transported to nearby farms where it can be used to manage soil pH.
A Partnership with EMBRAPA
Terradot has partnered with Brazil’s agricultural research agency (EMBRAPA), allowing the startup to use its ERW strategy on over one million hectares of land. This partnership not only enables the removal of carbon dioxide but also provides a bonus for farmers who can utilize the finely-ground basalt to manage their soil pH.
Challenges and Uncertainties
While the ERW strategy shows promise, there are still concerns about its costs, safety, and potential to delay the transition from fossil fuels to carbon pollution-free energy. Experts say that carbon removal is no substitute for preventing greenhouse gas emissions in the first place.
Counting CO2 Removal
One of the significant challenges facing Terradot is measuring how much CO2 it actually manages to trap. Google acknowledges this uncertainty, stating that "it’s hard to measure with precision how much CO2 this process removes from the atmosphere." Terradot plans to take soil samples to assess how much CO2 is captured based on the degradation of rocks over time.
Expert Opinion
Dr. Jagoutz, an expert in geology and carbon sequestration, believes that while there are uncertainties surrounding ERW, it’s essential to try this approach in the real world. "I also think, why not try? I don’t think we have the luxury to overthink it right now."
Related News
- Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms
- Google inks nuclear deal for next-generation reactors
- Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are already making heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, storms, and other climate disasters more dangerous.
Conclusion
While the multimillion-dollar deals with Terradot mark a significant step towards combating climate change, it’s essential to remember that carbon removal is not a substitute for emissions reductions. Google’s carbon footprints have grown as it builds out energy-hungry AI data centers, and switching to clean energy is the only effective way to stop climate change.
Comments
- "It’s very clear that this is not a substitute for emissions reductions at all… we need both of these tools."
- Kanoff, Terradot
- "This is a great step forward in carbon removal. I’m excited to see how this technology develops and scales up."
- Anonymous
References
- Terradot press release: Multimillion-Dollar Deals with Terradot
- Google press release: Google’s Carbon Removal Deal with Terradot
- Dr. Jagoutz’s interview: Why ERW is a promising solution for carbon removal
