Microsoft bets on algae to mitigate its growing carbon footprint

News Summary

  • After less than three months the buoy and the algae and the embodied fast carbon sink to the bottom of the ocean, and if they sink below 1,000 meters the carbon is gone for roughly 1,000 years.”“However, not all buoys are seeded,” Breighner added.
  • Like all of its peers in the tech industry, Microsoft has a carbon pollution problem.The software giant’s emissions are on the rise, in spite of a pledge from the company to be carbon negative by 2030.
  • “The buoy floats, the alkaline minerals dissolve, reducing ocean acidification and removing carbon through a process called ocean alkalinity enhancement.
  • So far, Breighner said that Running Tide has “only removed less than 1,000 tons of carbon in test and research deployments.” The startup intends to remove up to 12,000 tons over two years for Microsoft alone.The deal is valued in the single-digit millions, Running Tide said.
  • This ticking clock explains Microsoft’s latest deal to address its environmental toll: It’s turning to Running Tide to offset some of its emissions via the ocean.Running Tide, which also works with Stripe and Shopify, aims to use this money to lock away massive quantities of carbon dioxide.
  • The company aims to be carbon negative in the next seven or so years, and its plan to get there hinges on carbon removal.
Like all of its peers in the tech industry, Microsoft has a carbon pollution problem.The software giants emissions are on the rise, in spite of a pledge from the company to be carbon negative by 2 [+2524 chars]