Commercial, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  October 9, 2024

Microsoft Signs for Carbon Removal

Microsoft signed a three-year agreement to permanently remove CO2 using enhanced rock weathering (ERW).

The agreement was signed with Lithos Carbon, which — as of December 2023 — delivered 500 tons of carbon removal for Microsoft by deploying ultra-fine, organic-grade volcanic basalt rock dust on U.S. farmland.

Over the summer, Lithos Carbon deployed a novel carbon removal research field for Microsoft in collaboration with  researchers. This project uses exceptionally high-resolution measurement validation in a subtropical environment to generate transparent large-scale datasets and enables more rapid deployment with enhanced standards for accounting.

Lithos Carbon’s newest agreement with Microsoft is to empirically quantify over 11,400 metric tons of permanent carbon removal. 

Lithos Carbon’s agreement is to deliver ex-post and empirically quantified carbon removal, meaning that carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere has been achieved and has been rigorously quantified. Alongside this removal, Lithos Carbon will continue to enhance and publish its robust measurement techniques that will validate not only the precise quantity of carbon removed, but the speed with which carbon is captured. 

By deploying basalt — the most plentiful volcanic rock in the world — on croplands, Lithos Carbon is accelerating the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbon in the air is then locked away for tens of thousands of years when the rainwater reacts with the silicate rock and traps the CO2 as bicarbonate, the material that seashells are made from. Lithos Carbon uses upcycled volcanic dust sources and repurposes them into valuable agricultural products. Therefore, no new emissions are created in this process.

For Microsoft, this carbon removal purchase supports its commitment of being carbon negative by 2030 while aiding the company's work to help scale the carbon removal market.

“Supporting innovative solutions is central to Microsoft’s carbon removal strategy,” said Brian Marrs, senior director of energy markets at Microsoft, in a statement. “Lithos Carbon’s dedication towards continued improvements in rigorously quantified Enhanced Rock Weathering systems and uncertainty reduction aligns with Microsoft’s pursuit of high-quality CDR projects, and we look forward to further advancements in Enhanced Rock Weathering.”  

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