Microsoft is hiring a company that digs 12,000 feet holes in the ground; here's why

Microsoft has agreed to purchase carbon removal credits from Los Angeles-based startup CarbonCapture, which is building a direct air capture (DAC) plant in Wyoming called Project Bison. 

The facility, projected to start running in the latter half of 2024, uses a technology that draws CO2 from the ambient air for underground storage, preventing the greenhouse gas from contributing to climate change.

Microsoft aims to become "carbon negative" by 2030, meaning it would remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than it generates through fossil fuel use.

Phillip Goodman, Director of Carbon Removal at Microsoft, said in the announcement: “This agreement with CarbonCapture helps us move toward our carbon-negative goal, while also helping to catalyze the growth of the direct air capture industry as a whole.”

How does this tech work? 

CarbonCapture's first modules in Wyoming are expected to capture and store about 10,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. The modules look like vented shipping containers that can filter out about 75 per cent of the CO2 in the air passing through them. The concentrated streams of CO2 would then be piped 12,000 feet underground into saline aquifers for permanent storage. Microsoft's greenhouse gas emissions started to climb again in the fiscal year 2021, responsible for approximately 14 million metric tons of CO2 emissions that year.

CarbonCapture plans to remove 5 million metric tons of CO2 annually by 2030, which is a significant endeavour since the global capacity for carbon removal is still only .01 million metric tons of CO2 annually.

However, the industry's cost has been a significant limiting factor, with the price per metric ton of captured CO2 sometimes exceeding $600. Although Microsoft has not yet disclosed specific details about how much CO2 it wants to remove or how much it will cost, it has also purchased carbon removal credits from Swiss company Climeworks.

Also read: OpenAI issues warning to ChatGPT users after bug leaks private conversations

Expanding the use of carbon removal credits

Carbon removal credits allow companies to offset their carbon emissions by financing carbon capture and storage projects or by purchasing credits from companies that have captured carbon from the atmosphere. The market for carbon removal credits is growing as more companies, governments, and investors seek to reduce their carbon footprints.

Carbon removal technologies like DAC plants have the potential to play a significant role in mitigating climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, the technology is still in its early stages, and the cost of removing carbon is still high.

Microsoft's purchase of carbon removal credits from CarbonCapture is a significant step towards achieving its ambitious carbon-negative goal. The company has pledged to invest $1 billion in carbon removal technologies and is also working on improving its energy efficiency and transitioning to renewable energy sources.

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