Tech Companies Spent Millions on a Proposed Climate Fix That’s Literally Just Rocks
Tech giants like Google invest heavily in reducing carbon emissions through a unique method involving rocks to capture pollutants. These companies
In an effort to counteract the devastating impact of their pollution on the climate, several big companies have invested in a novel strategy to capture carbon dioxide using rocks. Google and other prominent firms have partnered with a startup called Terradot, which has developed a technology that leverages enhanced rock weathering (ERW) to speed up the natural process of CO2 sequestration.
The Terradot Deal
Recently, Google, H&M Group, and Salesforce collectively agreed to pay $27 million to Terradot for removing 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This deal was 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, although the company declined to disclose the value of this agreement.
According to experts, if the cost of the Frontier deal is similar to previous agreements (approximately $300 per ton of CO2 captured), it could add up to $60 million for Google’s larger deal. However, Google expects the price to decrease over time as the technology becomes more widely adopted and costs come down.
Enhanced Rock Weathering: A Low-Tech Solution
Terradot’s ERW strategy involves accelerating a natural process that typically takes thousands of years. Rainfall naturally breaks down rocks, releasing calcium and magnesium, which triggers a chemical reaction that traps CO2 in water as bicarbonate. Groundwater carrying this bicarbonate eventually makes its way to the ocean, where it is stored and kept out of the atmosphere.
By crushing up rock and spreading it over large areas, Terradot aims to increase the surface area of exposed rock that reacts with CO2, thereby speeding up the weathering process.
The Science Behind Enhanced Rock Weathering
Professor Oliver Jagoutz from MIT praises Terradot’s approach: "It’s a big deal. I think it should go beyond the academic world and into the industrial sphere." He acknowledges that while there are still uncertainties surrounding the effectiveness of ERW, the technology has significant potential.
The Terradot Story
Terradot was founded by James Kanoff and Sasankh Munukutla, who met while they were undergraduate students at Stanford University. The company grew out of a research project on ERW that explored its feasibility as a carbon sequestration strategy. Before starting the project, Kanoff had briefly dropped out of Stanford to co-found a nonprofit called the Farmlink Project, which connects food banks to farms with excess produce.
Kanoff met Sheryl Sandberg through his work with the Farmlink Project and was introduced to Google’s sustainability team. This connection led to Terradot receiving funding from Google to develop its ERW technology.
Challenges and Uncertainties
While Terradot is optimistic about the potential of ERW, there are still significant challenges and uncertainties surrounding this technology. One major concern is the difficulty in measuring how much CO2 is captured based on rock degradation over time. Fertilizers in the soil can also limit the effectiveness of enhanced rock weathering.
Professor Jagoutz notes that "how much they sequester is still the outstanding question." However, he emphasizes that these uncertainties should not prevent trials and testing of ERW in real-world settings: "I don’t think we have the luxury to overthink it right now."
The Limitations of Carbon Removal
While ERW has significant potential as a carbon sequestration strategy, experts emphasize that it is not a substitute for emissions reductions. Google’s own carbon footprint has grown significantly as it builds out energy-hungry AI data centers.
In fact, the company was responsible for 14.3 million metric tons of CO2 pollution last year alone. Carbon removal efforts like Terradot’s ERW are merely an attempt to counteract some of this legacy pollution while companies make the transition to clean energy sources.
Conclusion
Terradot’s enhanced rock weathering technology offers a promising new approach to carbon capture and sequestration. While there are still significant challenges and uncertainties surrounding this strategy, it has significant potential as a low-tech solution for addressing climate change. However, experts emphasize that emissions reductions remain the most effective way to combat climate change, and companies must prioritize transitioning to clean energy sources.
In the words of James Kanoff: "Any of the partners we’re even thinking about working with, they have some of the most aggressive emission reduction strategies of any company in the world. And those are the groups that we really want to partner with to advance carbon removal."
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- Google Inks Nuclear Deal for Next-Generation Reactors: The tech giant has partnered with a nuclear energy company to develop next-generation reactors that will power its data centers with clean electricity.
These stories highlight the growing commitment of big tech companies to sustainability and their efforts to reduce their environmental footprint through innovative technologies.
