Microsoft buys tons of carbon elimination from the Xprize startup in depth

Microsoft builds data centers as quickly as possible, which kills its carbon footprint. Since 2020, her carbon emissions have increased by almost a quarter, undermining the commitment it made that year to eliminate more carbon from the atmosphere than it generates by 2030.

Microsoft therefore bought massive quantities of carbon elimination credits to try to remedy this situation, including a newly announced purchase of 4.9 million metric tonnes of Vaulted Deep. None of the parties revealed the financial conditions of the agreement. It will last 12 years to 2028.

Vaulted Deep works as an inverted oil company. It collects solid waste – such as treated wastewater, surplus manure or paper sludge – which would otherwise head towards a discharge or an incinerator, the mixture in a suspension and injects it into deep porous rocks underground. The wells are drilled and the pores open using the technology developed for hydraulic fracturing and gas.

So far, Vaulted Deep has removed more than 18,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. The company was a finalist in the Xprize carbon competition, and it raised a series A of $ 32 million in November which was led by Prelude Ventures.

Recently, Microsoft was stuck between a rock and a difficult place to properly make your carbon commitment in danger. Although the technology company has invested massively in the renewable powers-avoiding emissions is considered the first appropriate step-there are certain things that it must use, such as semiconductors, for which there are no zero-gas alternatives.

Last year, Microsoft generated 14.9 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, she said, more than double what she hopes to produce in 2030, when she plans to reach negative carbon emissions.

To achieve its objective, the company recently increased its investments in the elimination of carbon. Among them, a metric agreement of 7 million tonnes with the chestnut carbon to rebuild 60,000 acres in the southeast of the United States and another for 3.7 million metric tonnes with CO280 to capture carbon of stationery operations along the Gulf coast.