Carbonsmith’s Post

🌿 I’m excited to see Google sign on as the first company to match the U.S. federal government’s purchase of $35M in carbon removal credits through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Purchase program. Google’s dollar-for-dollar commitment over the next 12 months emphasizes the importance of a mutually reinforcing public-private investment model for commercializing carbon removal solutions. Governments and companies play critical and complementary roles in financing promising carbon removal approaches and bringing them to a commercial scale. 🌿 At Flowcarbon we are pleased to see Google taking this significant step to position itself as an offtaker to the most innovative carbon removal technologies, which is a critical component of the project finance capital stack enabling these technologies to scale. #CarbonRemoval #Sustainability #ClimateAction #VoluntaryCarbonMarket #PublicPrivatePartnerships #NetZeroEmissions #ClimateTech #CarbonOffsets #CDR

Google has officially joined the US Department of Energy's (DOE) 'Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge', matching the DOE's own $35m removal purchasing commitment.   It is clear that Google - and by extension Alphabet - has been carefully considering how best to support and invest in the nascent CDR industry. They have already made purchases through Frontier; they are a member of the First Mover's Coalition; and in June 2023, Alphabet pledged greater transparency in offset disclosures, effectively following the then-proposed SEC climate disclosure rule.   But compared to other technology giants - notably Amazon and Microsoft - Google, and by extension Alphabet, are a little behind the times. Amazon has already pledged to purchase 250,000 tons of removals from Occidental's 1PointFive; Microsoft has been aggressively purchasing and investing in offsets from a range of technologies, including DAC, BECCs, and Biochar.   Google's pledge is good ammunition in a marketing arms race. But the real value in joining the purchasing challenge lies in the contracting support smaller firms can use to navigate a nascent market.   In exchange for transparent disclosure - which may eventually be required by the SEC anyhow - buyers get access to vetted suppliers and contracting support.   Actually formalizing a removal offtake agreement is a lengthy and risky process, and requires significant liquidity over a several year timeframe. Buyers are exposed to significant material risks. Both the DOE and advanced market commitments such as Frontier are aiming to de-risk this processes to boost buy-side appetite.   In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Google spends their $35m budget. Will they follow Microsoft, and adopt a blended-durability approach? Or will they play the long game, aiming for the highest durability but the farthest out deliver date?

The more I know, the more I realize I don't know. Within a rapidly evolving field, this realization gets heightened. I appreciate efforts to continue to develop best practices, such as the 2024 Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal, which helps buyers and suppliers develop, identify, and evaluate high-quality, equitable projects in the voluntary carbon market. Check out the latest criteria from @Carbon Direct, developed in collaboration with @Microsoft: https://lnkd.in/dkFpHGwj   #CarbonRemoval #CarbonMarkets 

The Google Challenge Google announced that it will buy carbon removal credits for at least $35 million over the next 12 months in response to the Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It has become the first company on the DOE public leaderboard that recognises buyers and tracks voluntary carbon removal purchases. How about a VCM Leaderboard? The one where Google or any other consumer facing corporation matches the carbon credit purchases of individuals (buying between 1-3 credits only) from the Gold Standard marketplace. Of course, these are community projects that tackle climate change along with other #SDGs. Gold Standard marketplace has retired 34,833 carbon credits for such individuals between 2019-2023 as per my calculations from various projects. Now this is the hard earned money of folks who really believe in doing something for this planet apart from reducing their own emissions. Wouldn't that be a real public leaderboard - a #greenchallenge from Carbon Angels? #carbonwire #carbonangels #voluntarycarbonmarkets #carboncredits #CDR Vishwesh Iyer

Massive news in the #CDR world today: the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a notice of intent to launch a Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge! https://lnkd.in/eERvzMr7 It's great to see Google step up to pledge to invest $35M in the early stages of carbon removal to help boost the sector. https://lnkd.in/e7CJAqHS In addition to Google, kudos to tech leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, Stripe, and Shopify, for diving in early and strongly to lift the industry. We applaud the DOE is picking up on CDR.fyi's leaderboard. Let's all have more transparency and constructive competition among CDR purchasers and suppliers toward the common goal of getting to net zero and keeping our planet habitable! #cdr #durablecdr

$35 million for carbon removal credits and jettisoning of avoidance? Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, is taking a leadership position that others should follow 🌍 Alphabet is embracing a more impactful approach to carbon management by prioritizing carbon removal over avoidance credits, as detailed in their latest 2024 environment report. This strategic shift aligns with our belief at Supercritical that, alongside reduction strategies, carbon removal is the only legitimate path to achieving true climate impact. This pivot towards carbon removal reflects a commitment to more permanent and verifiable solutions, and we’re eager to see more strategic shifts like this from other industry giants in the future. 📉 Abandoning avoidance credits: Alphabet’s decision to eliminate avoidance credits underscores a growing recognition of the limitations and challenges associated with these offsets. ⚖️ Goodbye to carbon neutrality goals: Starting in 2023, the company is no longer maintaining operational carbon neutrality, through carbon avoidance offsets, instead aiming to neutralize residual emissions with high-quality carbon removal credits by 2030. 💡 Focus on high-quality carbon removal: Alphabet is investing in methods like biomass carbon removal, enhanced rock weathering, and direct air capture. In 2024, they pledged $35 million for carbon removal credits, joined a coalition to contract 20 million nature-based removal credits by 2030, and signed three carbon credit offtake deals for 62,500 tonnes of CO2e for delivery by 2030. Not enough businesses are taking their net zero commitments seriously - of the 7,892 SBTi signatories only 334 are purchasers of CDR. Something doesn't add up. Our mission has always been to support companies in navigating the complexities of the carbon removal market with confidence and transparency. We believe that with more companies adopting similar strategies, we can collectively make a significant impact on our planet. #CarbonRemoval #Sustainability #NetZero #ClimateAction #Supercritical #CDR #CarbonNeutrality #GreenTech

According to the DOE: The biggest American companies “have limited short-term decarbonization ambitions, and global industry emissions are not on track” and “industrial decarbonization in the U.S. is at risk of lagging behind other countries.” The Biden Administration just released a new report which makes clear that we need more investment for the US to meet emission reduction goals for the industrial sector. GlassPoint looks forward to participating in this conversation. #climateweeknyc #IRA https://lnkd.in/ghWJgJza

Three years ago, when Carbon Direct collaborated with Microsoft to publish the first Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal, the carbon removal market was in a very different place. There was little consensus on what a high-quality carbon project looked like, and the supply and demand for these projects was extremely low. We know the science of #CarbonRemoval is always evolving. To help buyers and suppliers develop, identify, and evaluate high-quality, equitable projects in the voluntary carbon market, benchmarks like the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal must also evolve. Check out the latest criteria from Carbon Direct, developed in collaboration with Microsoft in the blog post below. https://lnkd.in/eWj-JzB2 #CarbonRemoval #ClimateAction #CarbonMarkets #VoluntaryCarbonMarket

The science of #CarbonRemoval is always evolving. To help buyers and suppliers develop, identify, and evaluate high-quality, equitable projects in the voluntary carbon market, benchmarks like the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal must also evolve. Check out the latest criteria from @Carbon Direct, developed in collaboration with @Microsoft: https://lnkd.in/gmY4GdwV    #CarbonRemoval #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #ClimateSolutions #CarbonDioxide #CarbonMarket #CarbonMarkets #VoluntaryCarbonMarket

The world needs a more integrated, transparent, and robust carbon market to decarbonize at scale. Stakeholders should act now to foster cross-border and cross-market convergence while working to raise the bar on certification standards.