Google and Facebook Reveal $925M Program to Capture Carbon Pollution

According to a February Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, Climate change is causing an increase in storms, droughts and wildfires, as well as plunging biodiversity. To overcome this climate change issue, Google and Facebook have joined a nearly $1 billion program designed to capture carbon pollution. Both the companies are committed to purchasing carbon capture technology when it’s developed.

Google and Facebook Reveal $925M Program to Capture Carbon Pollution

Both companies have joined Frontier and vowed spending will eventually flow to approved carbon capture projects. E-commerce company Shopify and consulting firm McKinsey have also joined the Frontier program.

Frontier is a subsidiary of payment processor Stripe. It provides a warranty that developers of technology will be able to sell once it’s been developed. The arrangement is made use of when the expense of establishing new products is so high that providers fear that doing so won’t be profitable.

Both the companies have to spend the amount till 2030 on technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Most efforts to combat climate change focus on renewing emissions in the first place. For instance, by shifting to renewable energy and reducing meat consumption, carbon capture could be important to compensate for carbon emissions from operations like steel and concrete production. Carbon capture will only help if it works economically at an enormous scale of gigatons per year.

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Until now, carbon capture technology has permanently removed less than 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Frontier is also hoping that its members can encourage entrepreneurs to develop the systems needed to capture carbon pollution.

“With Frontier, we want to send a loud demand signal to entrepreneurs, researchers and investors that there is a market for permanent carbon removal: build and we will buy”. Nan Ransohoff, head of Stripe’s climate work, said in a statement.

Not only this but other tech giants have also shown keen interest in purchasing carbon capture technology. In March, Microsoft has also called for more businesses to enter the carbon capture market. Similarly, Apple also vows to grant $200 million for lowering carbon emissions.

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