Google Accelerates Carbon Removal Efforts

In 2024, Google significantly increased its commitment to carbon removal by contracting over US$100 million in carbon removal credits, three times more than its pledge from the previous year. This investment supports a variety of approaches to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, with the goal of accelerating progress toward a net-zero future.

The company’s efforts are part of a broader initiative to advance carbon removal solutions that can have a meaningful impact on the planet. Through independent purchases and collaborations with the carbon removal buying consortium Frontier, Google is helping to scale up innovative methods for sequestering carbon over the coming decades. 

One of Google’s key areas of focus is restoring natural carbon sinks, such as forests and oceans, which have the potential to absorb CO2 at an enormous scale. However, measuring the impact of these projects has historically been a challenge. To address this, Google co-founded Symbiosis, a market commitment aimed at setting strict criteria for forestry projects. Symbiosis pools demand from corporate buyers to help these projects scale. In addition, Google is funding CarbonRun, a project focused on restoring the health of waterways while removing CO2.

Another area Google is supporting is enhanced rock weathering (ERW), a natural process that locks CO2 into rocks when rainwater falls on them. The company is working with several ERW suppliers around the world, including Terradot, to accelerate deployment and improve measurement techniques for this method. ERW has the potential to both remove CO2 and improve soil health, making it a promising solution for the future.

Google is also exploring ways to optimize the use of waste biomass, which, if left to degrade, contributes to CO2 emissions. The company is backing projects such as CO280, which captures carbon from industrial processes, and biochar projects like Varaha and Charm, which provide additional benefits to local farmers by enhancing soil quality.

In addition to natural processes, the company is investing in technological solutions, such as direct air capture (DAC), which can remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere. DAC technology has the potential to play a critical role in mitigating climate change, but its cost needs to be significantly reduced. Google has partnered with Holocene to set the lowest price target ever for direct air capture credits and supported 280 Earth, a company incubated within Alphabet’s X, to explore DAC technologies.

Despite significant progress, Google acknowledges that the path toward effective carbon removal is just beginning. The company plans to continue expanding its support for carbon removal technologies in the coming years and remains open to exploring additional approaches to address climate change.