Diving into Google’s CDR Strategy Developments in their 2024 Environmental Report
We dive into the 2024 Environmental Report from Google to uncover how their carbon removal strategy has advanced over the past year.
📅 We’re kicking off a new series on Corporate Carbon Removal Activity to showcase some of the global companies paving the way forward in developing a carbon removal procurement strategy.
This week’s spotlight is on Google who released its 2024 Environmental Report last month.
📈 Advancing Carbon Credit Strategy
Google aims to neutralize residual emissions with high-quality carbon removal credits by 2030. This marks a move away from maintaining operational carbon neutrality & instead a focus on accelerating a range of carbon solutions & partnerships that contribute towards the company’s goal of net-zero by 2030.
🎯 Ambitious Targets
Google was the first company to pledge to match the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Carbon Removal Purchase program, aiming to contract at least $35M worth of carbon removal credits before March 2025. This commitment builds upon a $200m pledge to Frontier, an advanced market commitment that is accelerating the development of carbon removal technologies by guaranteeing future demand & participation in the First Movers Coalition for carbon removal.
🤝 Meaningful CDR Progress
In 2023, Google completed its first offtake deals through Frontier for approximately 62,500 tCO2e of removal credits with Charm Industrial, CarbonCapture Inc., and Lithos Carbon. The expected delivery timeframes for these credits across these projects ranges from 2024 to 2030. Just the beginning of its rapidly growing carbon removal efforts in the years to come.
⚠️ Challenges Ahead
Google reported that in 2023, total GHG emissions increased 13% year-over-year, representing a 48% increase compared to 2019 “primarily driven by increased data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions.” This is an indicator of the increased pressure companies like Google must face in addressing the environmental impact associated with scaling new technologies like AI.
Read their full report here: https://lnkd.in/gZnUt7Mj
