On Friday, Microsoft announced its acquisition of 3.7 million metric tons of carbon removal credits from CO280, a developer specializing in carbon capture projects associated with pulp and paper mills.
This purchase is aimed at covering 12 years’ worth of emissions from CO280’s inaugural carbon capture project, which is set to commence operations at a mill located on the Gulf Coast in 2028. This initiative aligns with Microsoft’s objective to become a carbon-negative company by 2030, meaning it aims to remove more carbon than it emits. In 2023, Microsoft produced approximately 17.1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, making this goal a significant challenge.
To reduce its emissions, Microsoft has been investing heavily in renewable energy and entering contracts focused on carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere, thereby offsetting emissions that cannot be eliminated through renewable sources alone.
The project with CO280 is the first of twelve in development, as shared exclusively with TechCrunch by co-founder and CEO Jonathan Rhone. Having previously sold power plants to the pulp and paper industry, Rhone believes that integrating carbon capture into the industry processes is a logical step. “It just seemed like a no-brainer that everyone had missed,” he remarked. The pulp and paper sector generates approximately 100 million metric tons of biogenic carbon dioxide each year.
CO280 is collaborating with SLB Capturi— a partnership between SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Aker Carbon Capture— to construct the carbon capture facility. The technology utilizes a widely adopted amine process, which will be incorporated into a large paper mill’s recovery boiler, a component that recycles chemicals for reuse and emits significant amounts of carbon tied to the biomass.
Typically, the carbon captured in the wood would be released into the atmosphere, but by extracting CO2 during this process, the mill will effectively sequester carbon that was previously absorbed by trees through photosynthesis, as Rhone noted: “The trees do all the heavy lifting by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere.”
Once captured, the carbon dioxide will be transported 40 miles via pipeline to a saline aquifer designated for CO2 storage. This initial phase of the project is expected to capture around 40% of the biogenic carbon dioxide emitted by the mill and 30% of the total CO2, including emissions from fossil fuels. CO280 plans a subsequent phase aimed at doubling these capture rates.
Rhone indicated that the carbon capture units will be developed as joint ventures with the mills, which will benefit financially from a share of the carbon credit revenues. CO280 prices its credits at approximately $200 per metric ton, and purchasers can benefit from tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, further reducing their costs.
CO280 has previously sold carbon removal credits to Frontier, an advanced market commitment initiative supported by companies like Stripe, Google, Shopify, and Meta.
