In an effort to counteract the impact of their pollution on the climate, Google and other big companies have invested in a plan to trap carbon dioxide using rocks. This initiative involves a Sheryl Sandberg-backed startup called Terradot, which has recently announced multimillion-dollar deals with several companies, including Google, H&M Group, and Salesforce.
Multimillion-Dollar Deals with Terradot
The collective agreements between these companies and Terradot amount to $27 million, with the goal 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.
Separately, Google announced its own deal with Terradot to purchase an additional 200,000 tons of carbon removal. While the company declined to disclose the cost of this deal, it is reportedly similar to the Frontier agreement, which would put the price at around $300 per ton of CO2 captured. If this estimate holds true, Google’s larger deal could be worth up to $60 million.
The Significance of Enhanced Rock Weathering
According to Oliver Jagoutz, a professor of geology at MIT, enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a relatively low-tech tactic for taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. ERW attempts to speed up a natural process that might otherwise take thousands of years by crushing rocks and spreading them over a large area, increasing the surface area exposed to CO2.
Terradot’s approach involves using basalt from quarries in southern Brazil to create finely-ground rock that can be used as fertilizer on nearby farms. The company has partnered with Brazil’s agricultural research agency (EMBRAPA) to use this strategy on more than one million hectares of land, allowing for the capture of significant amounts of CO2.
The Challenges and Limitations of Carbon Removal
While carbon removal is seen as a potential tool for slowing climate change by trapping some of the pollution already released into the atmosphere, there are still concerns about its costs, safety, and potential to delay a transition from fossil fuels to carbon-pollution-free energy. Experts emphasize that carbon removal should not be used as a substitute for preventing greenhouse gas emissions in the first place.
Terradot has a 2029 deadline to meet its obligation of removing 90,000 tons of CO2 under the Frontier deal, and it plans to capture an additional 200,000 tons for Google by the early 2030s. However, experts caution that accurately measuring how much CO2 is actually captured through enhanced rock weathering remains a significant challenge.
The Uncertainty Surrounding Enhanced Rock Weathering
According to Jagoutz, determining how much calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate make it to the ocean to permanently sequester CO2 is still an outstanding question. Fertilizer in the soil can also potentially limit how much carbon is captured through enhanced rock weathering.
The Importance of Carbon Removal as a Supplemental Measure
While Google’s commitment to removing 200,000 tons of CO2 through enhanced rock weathering is significant, it represents only a small fraction of the company’s overall carbon footprint. Last year, Google was responsible for releasing 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution into the atmosphere.
Kanoff emphasizes that carbon removal should be seen as an attempt to counteract some of a company’s legacy of pollution while making the transition to clean energy. "It’s very clear that this is not a substitute for emissions reductions at all," he says. "We need both of these tools."
A Holistic Approach to Addressing Climate Change
Google’s investment in carbon removal through enhanced rock weathering highlights the importance of taking a holistic approach to addressing climate change. While clean energy and emissions reduction are critical, carbon removal can serve as a supplemental measure to help mitigate the impact of existing pollution.
Additional Reading
- 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.
