In a bid to mitigate the impact of their pollution on the climate, Google and other prominent companies have signed multimillion-dollar deals with Terradot, a startup backed by Sheryl Sandberg. The agreements aim to capture carbon dioxide using rocks, with the goal of slowing down climate change.
The Carbon Removal Initiative
Terradot’s enhanced rock weathering (ERW) strategy involves speeding up a natural process that would otherwise take thousands of years. Rainfall breaks down rocks, releasing calcium and magnesium, which triggers a chemical reaction that traps CO2 in water as bicarbonate. The groundwater carrying this bicarbonate eventually makes its way to the ocean, where it is stored and kept out of the atmosphere.
The Deals
Google, H&M Group, and Salesforce are among the companies that collectively agreed to pay Terradot $27 million to remove 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Frontier, a carbon removal initiative led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability, brokered the deal.
Separate Agreement with Google
In addition to the Frontier agreement, Google announced that it will purchase an additional 200,000 tons of carbon removal from Terradot. While the company declined to disclose the cost of this deal, experts estimate that it could be worth around $60 million, assuming a similar price per ton as the Frontier agreement.
The Benefits and Challenges
Experts praise the initiative, with Oliver Jagoutz, a professor of geology at MIT, stating, "It’s a big deal. I think it should go out of the academic world into the industrial world." However, there are concerns about the costs, safety, and potential delays in transitioning from fossil fuels to carbon pollution-free energy.
Terradot’s Background
Terradot grew out of research at Stanford University, where CEO James Kanoff and CPO Sasankh Munukutla were undergraduate students. The company was founded along with Kanoff’s former professor, Scott Fendorf, who is now the chief scientist and technical advisor.
The Challenge of Measuring CO2 Removal
One of the challenges facing Terradot is measuring how much CO2 it actually captures. Google acknowledges this in its announcement: "Right now, it’s hard to measure with precision how much CO2 this process removes from the atmosphere." Terradot plans to take soil samples to assess carbon capture based on rock degradation over time.
The Importance of Both Emissions Reductions and Carbon Removal
While carbon removal is not a substitute for preventing greenhouse gas emissions, experts agree that it can be an essential tool in combating climate change. Kanoff emphasizes, "It’s very clear that this is not a substitute for emissions reductions at all… we need both of these tools."
Conclusion
The investment by big companies in carbon removal through enhanced rock weathering is a step towards mitigating the impact of pollution on the climate. However, experts caution that it is only one part of the solution and should be complemented with aggressive emission reduction strategies.
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Comments
- "This is a step in the right direction, but we still need to focus on reducing emissions." – John Doe
- "I’m excited to see companies like Google investing in carbon removal initiatives." – Jane Smith
- "We need to be careful not to rely too heavily on carbon removal solutions." – Bob Johnson
New Comments
- "This is a great example of how businesses can work together to address climate change." – Sarah Lee
- "I’m concerned about the cost and effectiveness of these initiatives." – Michael Brown