CO280 and Aker Carbon Capture collaborate with Microsoft to scale-up permanent, affordable carbon removal in US and Canada

New collaboration aims to scale the full value chain of carbon removal by capturing and permanently sequestering biogenic CO2 at pulp and paper mills. CO280 and Aker Carbon Capture’s collaboration with Microsoft will supply the market with significant volumes of permanent, verifiable, affordable Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDRs).

CO280 and Aker Carbon Capture have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Microsoft to explore opportunities for scaling the full physical and digital value chain of carbon removal in the US and Canada. Together the three companies have the expertise, technologies, and resources to develop this market by creating a scalable model to deploy large-scale projects quickly to meet global net zero targets. The collaboration aspires to leverage the strengths and capabilities of each partner to enable the ecosystem for the voluntary carbon market by providing traceability of data and enabling high-integrity carbon credits.

The three companies will collaborate to address the technological, regulatory, and commercial challenges and opportunities for creating carbon removal, with each party playing distinct commercial roles. The parties intend to collaborate on a non-exclusive basis. 

Under the terms of the MoU agreement, the parties agree to explore to:

• Develop biogenic carbon capture project(s), including projects currently in CO280’s development pipeline, as well as additional projects; 
• Apply CO280’s expertise to jointly develop a standard and efficient screening process to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of carbon capture on pulp and paper mills, with the subsequent deployment of Aker Carbon Capture’s plants, including the modularized Just Catch series;
• Standardize the lifecycle assessment (LCA) and measurement, verification, and reporting (MRV) systems for capture projects in pulp and paper, with the ambition to leverage Microsoft’s digital capabilities, cloud computing platforms, services, and solutions;
• Create 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, with the corresponding creation and use of high-integrity carbon removal credits.

North America’s pulp and paper industry represents a carbon removal opportunity of up to 130 million tons per year, due to the fact that the average mill has a CO2 emissions profile 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 partnership 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 commitment on the part of three best-in-class companies is exactly the kind of bold move the industry needs to unlock the enormous removal opportunity in the pulp and paper industry and scale up the CDR market. Together, we are developing the largest scale, lowest cost, permanent carbon removal projects in the world,” said Jonathan Rhone, Chief Executive Officer of CO280.

Microsoft announced its ambitious Carbon goals back in 2020: To be carbon negative by 2030 and remove the company’s aggregated carbon footprint by 2050. This journey starts with reducing carbon emissions as much as possible, replacing electricity consumption with carbon-free energy, and removing the emissions that remain. Microsoft has run an open process for carbon removal since 2020 and the company has shared learnings publicly. Microsoft is committed to creating a robust market for CDRs, including by building a digital value chain that authoritatively tracks carbon attributes and generates robust credits as simply as possible. For this to happen, engaging with companies that share the same goals is essential. 

“Our collaboration with Aker Carbon Capture and CO280 builds on important large-scale initiatives across asset-intensive industries including pulp and paper”, says Darryl Willis, Corporate Vice President of Energy and Resources Industry at Microsoft. “By leveraging the power of technology to create a digital value chain for carbon tracking and reporting, we can equip the market for high-integrity carbon removal credits and further enable the industrial sector to decarbonize.”

“It’s time to move past the first-of-a-kind and the demonstration projects for carbon removal. The deployment rate needs to be accelerated by the hundreds to deliver the ‘net’ in net zero. We have demonstrated the strength of working together in the past, and we are excited to expand our collaboration with Microsoft and CO280 to further deliver impact” says Egil Fagerland, CEO of Aker Carbon Capture.

Aker Carbon Capture is dedicated to enabling carbon removal and reduction and the company’s proven Just Catch modular solutions enable industries to deploy their capture technology at speed and at scale. 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. 

Accelerating the large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removals (CDR) is critical to the net-zero transition. 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. 

Media contact:
Hanne Rolén, mob: +47 99 00 25 71, email: hanne.rolen@akercarboncapture.com