Microsoft, like all its peers in the tech industry, has a carbon pollution problem.
Despite the company promising to be carbon negative by 2030, the software giant’s emissions are increasing. ocean.
Running Tide, which also works with Stripe and Shopify, aims to use the funds to contain large amounts of carbon dioxide. Running Tide says it will do this through efforts such as growing large amounts of kelp in biodegradable buoys, with the intention that the algae will eventually sink to the ocean floor. But if you want to dig a little deeper, here’s what Business Development Director Jordan Breighner told TechCrunch today.
“We combine wood and alkali minerals to form small carbon buoys that can be seeded with algae and deployed deep into the open ocean,” says Breighner. “Buoys float, alkaline minerals dissolve, ocean acidification is reduced, and carbon is removed through a process called ocean alkalinity enhancement. Algae grow rapidly and absorb CO.2In less than three months, the buoys and algae and absorbed high-velocity carbon sink to the seafloor, and if they sink below 1,000 meters, the carbon is lost for about 1,000 years. ”
“But not all buoys are seeded,” Breiner added. “It’s based on optimal ocean conditions for algae growth.”
Overall, the carbon removal business is still developing. Permanent carbon reductions on the scale we ultimately aim to achieve have yet to be proven. Some scientists are also concerned that fully developed venture-backed isolation schemes, such as giant kelp farms, could unintentionally harm marine ecosystems, says MIT Technology. The review reported last year.
So far, Runningtide has “removed less than 1,000 tons of carbon in testing and research deployments,” Breiner said. This startup, Microsoft alone he plans to remove up to 12,000 tons in two years.
According to Running Tide, the deal is worth millions of dollars. A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment on pricing.
Microsoft’s latest sustainability report showed a 21.5% increase in emissions from 2020 to 2021. The software giant attributes this to its Scope 3 emissions, which it says are related to data center development and customers using its products more frequently. In other words, Microsoft grew its cloud and gaming businesses, and its net emissions increased at the same time. The company aims to be carbon negative in the next seven years or so, and plans to get there depend on removing carbon dioxide.
