The new collaboration aims to expand the full value chain of carbon removal by capturing and permanently storing natural CO2 at pulp and paper mills. CO280 and Aker Carbon Capture’s partnership with Microsoft will provide the market with significant amounts of permanent, verifiable, and affordable Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDRs).
CO280 and Aker Carbon Capture have agreed with Microsoft to look into opportunities for expanding the entire physical and digital process of carbon removal in the US and Canada. Together, the three companies have the knowledge, technologies, and resources to grow this market by creating a scalable model to quickly implement large-scale projects to meet global net zero goals. The partnership aims to utilize the strengths and capabilities of each partner to enable the ecosystem for the voluntary carbon market by ensuring data traceability and enabling high-integrity carbon credits.
The three companies will work together to tackle the technological, regulatory, and commercial challenges and opportunities for creating carbon removal, with each party having distinct commercial roles. The parties plan to collaborate on a non-exclusive basis.
Under the terms of the MoU agreement, the parties agree to explore:
- Develop biogenic carbon capture project(s), including projects currently in CO280’s development pipeline, as well as additional projects;
- Use CO280’s expertise to jointly create a standard and efficient screening process to assess the technical and economic feasibility of carbon capture on pulp and paper mills, and then deploy Aker Carbon Capture’s plants, including the modularized Just Catch series;
- Establish standard lifecycle assessment (LCA) and measurement, verification, and reporting (MRV) systems for capture projects in pulp and paper, with the intention to leverage Microsoft’s digital capabilities, cloud computing platforms, services, and solutions;
- Develop a digital tool to compare CO280’s planned projects against Microsoft Criteria for High Quality Carbon Removal;
- Advocate for policies and demonstrate thought leadership to promote the pulp and paper carbon capture market, and create and use high-integrity carbon removal credits as a result.
North America’s pulp and paper industry represents a carbon removal opportunity of up to 130 million tons per year because the average mill emits CO2 that is 80-90% biogenic. By capturing and storing these emissions permanently, negative emissions are achieved as more carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere than is being emitted from the process.
CO280 is the leading developer of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) projects in the pulp and paper industry. In collaboration with pulp and paper companies, CO280 develops, finances, owns, and operates large-scale CDR projects. CO280’s projects address a critical supply gap in the CDR market by supplying permanent, verifiable, and affordable CDR to corporate buyers in the voluntary market. CO280 currently has more than 10 million tons per year of permanent CDR under development.
“This promise from the three top companies is exactly the kind of bold action the industry needs to unlock the huge opportunity for removing carbon in the pulp and paper industry and expanding the CDR market. Together, we are creating the largest and most cost-effective projects for permanent carbon removal in the world.” said Jonathan Rhone, Chief Executive Officer of CO280.
Microsoft announced its ambitious Carbon objectives back in 2020: To have a negative carbon footprint by 2030 and eliminate the company’s total carbon footprint by 2050. This journey begins with reducing carbon emissions as much as possible, replacing electricity usage with carbon-free energy, and getting rid of the remaining emissions. Microsoft has been open about its process for carbon removal since 2020 and has shared its findings publicly. Microsoft is devoted to creating a strong market for CDRs, including by developing a digital value chain that accurately tracks carbon characteristics and generates reliable credits as easily as possible. To make this happen, it's essential to engage with companies that have the same goals.
“Our partnership with Aker Carbon Capture and CO280 builds on significant large-scale efforts in asset-intensive industries such as pulp and paper,” says Darryl Willis, Corporate Vice President of Energy and Resources Industry at Microsoft. “By using technology to create a digital value chain for tracking and reporting carbon, we can prepare the market for high-integrity carbon removal credits and further enable the industrial sector to decarbonize.“
“It’s time to move beyond the initial and demonstration projects for carbon removal. The rate of deployment needs to be increased extensively to achieve 'net' zero. We have shown the power of collaborating in the past, and we are excited to expand our partnership with Microsoft and CO280 to make a greater impact,” says Egil Fagerland, CEO of Aker Carbon Capture.
Aker Carbon Capture is committed to facilitating carbon removal and reduction, and the company's proven Just Catch modular solutions enable industries to quickly and widely implement their capture technology. The company is currently delivering seven carbon capture units: five Just Catch 100 units to Ørsted, one Just Catch 100 unit to Twence, and a Big Catch delivery to Heidelberg Materials at Brevik.
Increasing the widespread deployment of carbon dioxide removals (CDR) is crucial for the transition to net-zero. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that more than one gigaton of CO2 per year will need to be captured by 2030, scaling up to more than six gigatons per year by 2050.
A launch event featuring representatives from CO280, Aker Carbon Capture, and Microsoft’s management teams took place at Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond on 17 April 2024, in conjunction with the official visit of the Crown Prince of Norway to the US.
