Feb 06, 2025
4 ways we’ve supported carbon removal over the past year
Randy Spock
Carbon Credits and Removals Lead
As we work toward our net zero goal, we aim to accelerate solutions that maximize our impact for the planet. That’s why in 2024, we contracted for more than $100 million in carbon removal credits — roughly 3 times more than what we pledged last year — to catalyze carbon removal solutions that both Google and the world need. Through a combination of independent purchases and deals contracted through buying consortium Frontier, we supported multiple approaches to removing CO2 from the atmosphere in the coming decades to find what works at scale and accelerate learning for the field of carbon removal as a whole.
Here are some of the ways we seek to advance carbon removal:
1. Restore natural carbon sinks with a focus on rigorous measurement
Forests and oceans naturally sequester CO2 at an enormous scale, and restoring them has huge potential to help the planet — but historically it’s been difficult to measure the climate impact of these projects. Last year, we co-founded Symbiosis, an advance market commitment to set rigorous criteria for best-in-class forestry projects and pool demand from corporate buyers to help these projects scale. We also funded CarbonRun, via Frontier, as a first step toward restoring the health of waterways while removing CO2.
2. Expand deployment and scientific understanding of enhanced rock weathering (ERW)
Rock weathering is another natural process that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. When rainwater falls on rock, a natural chemical process locks a portion of the CO2 from the rainwater into the rock for thousands of years. ERW — spreading crushed rock on farmland — has the potential to accelerate this phenomenon at a larger scale while also boosting soil health. We supported Terradot, along with a range of ERW suppliers around the world, to advance ERW deployment and improve measurement for this carbon removal approach.
3. Optimize use of waste biomass to lock up CO2
Every year, billions of tons of waste biomass degrade and release CO2 into the atmosphere. We’re pursuing promising opportunities to divert that carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock it away for centuries — from biomass capture projects like CO280 that piggyback on existing industrial infrastructure to biochar projects like Varaha and Charm that generate positive side effects for local farmers around the world.
4. Unlock more cost-effective direct air capture technologies
Beyond natural processes, we also need to catalyze technological breakthroughs that could add even more scale to carbon removal in the future. Direct air capture technologies could play a valuable long-term role in stabilizing the climate, but only if they become much more affordable. We have provided early-stage technologies with the resources needed to prove whether they can achieve game-changing reductions in cost — from our deal with Holocene, which set the lowest price target ever for direct air capture credits, to our support for 280 Earth, which was incubated within Alphabet’s moonshot company, X.
We’re encouraged by our progress, but the journey to catalyze carbon removal is just beginning. 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 maximize 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.