Meta Pledges $35MM for Carbon Removal Projects

Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, has pledged to contract at least $35 million for carbon removal projects in the coming year.

The pledge is part of its goal to achieve net zero emissions across its value chain in 2030, Meta said in a news release. The pledge is also a direct response to the Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge presented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which calls for companies to help catalyze carbon removal at gigaton scales in the coming decades.

“The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report makes it clear that emissions reduction and carbon removal are complementary and necessary for a net zero future. Reducing our GHG emissions across our global operations and value chain remains the most effective strategy to reach net zero. We will also be supporting high-quality nature-based and technological carbon removal for any residual emissions we cannot eliminate to reach our goal. Carbon removal will not only play an important role in helping us reach net zero emissions across our value chain in 2030, but it will also help the world avoid the worst effects of climate change,” Meta said.

“We hope our pledge will encourage others to make similar pledges, ultimately helping to scale the market and reduce the cost of carbon removal technologies. We are excited to continue our work to help build the carbon removal market, and look forward to working with partners like DOE to scale climate solutions vital to achieve a net zero future,” Meta added.

In March, the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) issued a notice of intent (NOI) to launch the Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge. The challenge called on external organizations to join DOE in purchasing high-quality carbon dioxide removal credits.

“The Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchasing Challenge is the latest effort by the Department of Energy to advance and rapidly scale up the carbon dioxide removal industry to meet the Biden Administration’s climate goals,” Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, said in an earlier statement. “Overall, it aims to galvanize voluntary private sector carbon removal credit purchases by reducing costs, improving monitoring, reporting, and verification tools and protocols, and ensuring that carbon dioxide removal delivers community, workforce, and environmental benefits”.

No new funding will be made available through the challenge. Rather, it aims to foster further private spending on removal credits by connecting top suppliers and buyers, as well as creating a leaderboard of carbon removal purchases. The leaderboard will enhance market transparency, “giving organizations interested in carbon removal credit purchases greater confidence to move forward,” according to the statement.

Last month, Sage Geosystems and Meta entered into an agreement that would significantly expand the use of geothermal power in the USA and would be the first use of next-generation geothermal power east of the Rocky Mountains.

Sage said in an earlier news release it plans to utilize its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal System (GGS) to provide carbon-free power to Meta’s data centers. The partnership, formalized at the DOE’s Catalyzing Next Generation Geothermal Development Workshop, will deliver up to 150 megawatts (MW) of new geothermal baseload power to support Meta’s data center growth. The first phase of the project is expected to be online and operating in 2027.

The partnership between the two companies “builds on the momentum that geothermal energy is a viable renewable energy source” across the country, Sage said. The GGS technology, validated in the field in early 2022, showcases the ability to harness geothermal energy virtually anywhere and promises a new era of reliable, sustainable baseload power and enhanced grid stability, the energy firm added.

To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com