news 
Tech companies want to capture carbon at paper mills and sewage plants
Google, Salesforce, H&M, and other major brands have partnered with startups CREW and CO280 to reduce their carbon footprint by capturing carbon dioxide emissions from wastewater treatment facilities and pulp and paper production.
The move marks a significant shift in the tech industry’s approach to addressing climate change. In an effort to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions, these companies are investing $80 million in two separate deals to capture carbon dioxide at unlikely locations – sewage plants and paper mills.
According to reports, Google will pay CREW, a startup focused on wastewater treatment technology, $32.1 million for capturing 71,878 tons of CO2 from wastewater facilities. Meanwhile, H&M and other brands will invest $48 million in CO280, which aims to retrofit pulp and paper mills with carbon capture devices.
Both agreements were facilitated by Frontier, a carbon removal initiative led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability.
The deals mark a significant departure from the traditional approach of planting trees or investing in renewable energy. While CREW’s strategy is more expensive than previously thought, Wil Burns, co-director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University, expressed his enthusiasm about the potential impact of this technology.
“It’s not just about preventing emissions; it’s about removing CO2 from the atmosphere,” he said. “This could be a game-changer.”
However, experts have raised concerns about the cost-effectiveness and safety of carbon capture technologies. Not only do they use significant amounts of energy, generating their own greenhouse gas emissions in the process, but there are also potential environmental issues surrounding tree plantations and transportation.
Furthermore, critics argue that such efforts are merely a distraction from more pressing measures to transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources.
“Preventing emissions is the only surefire way to stop climate change,” said an expert. “Carbon capture can’t compensate for our failure to take drastic action on reducing carbon emissions.”
Despite these concerns, tech companies and startups alike are doubling down on their efforts to address the climate crisis.
Source: www.theverge.com
