In an effort to mitigate the impact of their pollution on the climate, Google and other large corporations have invested in a plan to capture carbon dioxide using rocks. This strategy, known as Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), involves speeding up a natural process that breaks down rock and traps CO2 in water. The company behind this technology, Terradot, has secured multimillion-dollar deals with companies like Google, H&M Group, and Salesforce.
Multimillion-Dollar Deals
Terradot recently announced agreements to remove 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for $27 million. This deal was brokered by Frontier, a carbon removal initiative led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability. Separately, Google announced its own deal to purchase an additional 200,000 tons of carbon removal from Terradot. However, the company declined to disclose the price of this larger deal.
The Biggest Purchase Yet
According to Google, this is the largest purchase yet of carbon removal through ERW. While the cost per ton of CO2 captured is roughly $300, Google expects the price to decrease over time for its larger deal. Oliver Jagoutz, a professor of geology at MIT, believes that this technology has significant potential and should be taken out of the academic world and into the industrial sector.
The Story Behind Terradot
Terradot was founded by James Kanoff and Sasankh Munukutla, who met while working on a research project at Stanford. Shortly before graduating in 2022, they co-founded the company along with Kanoff’s former professor, Scott Fendorf. Before starting this research project, Kanoff had briefly dropped out of Stanford to co-found a nonprofit called the Farmlink Project.
Carbon Removal: A Suite of Strategies
Carbon dioxide removal encompasses various strategies aimed at taking CO2 out of the atmosphere. While these technologies could potentially help slow climate change by trapping some of the pollution already released over the years, there are concerns about their costs, safety, and potential to delay a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Enhanced Rock Weathering
ERW attempts to speed up a natural process that might take thousands of years. Rainfall naturally breaks down rock, releasing calcium and magnesium and triggering a chemical reaction that traps CO2 in water as bicarbonate. Groundwater carrying this bicarbonate eventually makes its way to the ocean, storing the carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere.
Accelerating the Process
In theory, accelerating the process is simple: crush up rock and spread it out over a large area, increasing the surface area of exposed rock. However, this technology still needs to be developed and tested in the real world.
Challenges Ahead
One of the main challenges facing Terradot is measuring how much CO2 is captured through ERW. The company plans to take soil samples to assess how much CO2 is captured based on how the rock degrades over time. However, it’s harder to figure out how much calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate makes it to the ocean to permanently sequester CO2.
Uncertainty Should Not Halt Trials
According to Jagoutz, uncertainty should not stop trials in the real world. "I also think, why not try? … I don’t think we have the luxury to overthink it right now." Terradot is taking a bold step by deploying ERW in the real world.
The Limitations of Carbon Removal
While carbon removal can help counteract some of a company’s legacy pollution while they make the transition to clean energy, it is not a substitute for emissions reductions. According to Kanoff, "It’s very clear that this is not a substitute for emissions reductions at all … we need both of these tools."
