Google has partnered with Vaulted Deep, investing in high-quality carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and joining forces on quantifying methane emissions avoidance.
Under the newly announced partnership, Google has purchased 50,000 tonnes of CDR to be delivered by Vaulted Deep by 2030.
This purchase agreement comes as a follow-up to the offtake deal Google signed with Vaulted back in March 2024 in a partnership forged through the Frontier coalition and certified by Isometric.
Beyond CDR, Google and Vaulted will now also focus on methane emissions, forming a united front with Isometric and other scientific collaborators to explore reliable ways for measuring the methane emissions addressed through Vaulted’s operations.
Vaulted Deep specializes in storing carbon-rich organic waste deep underground, creating a CDR pathway that locks in CO2 emissions away from the atmosphere.
The company works with different organic waste feedstocks like food waste, paper sludge, excess manure, agricultural byproducts, and biosolids, helping tackle the CO2 emissions from the waste sector, which is also estimated to account for 40% of U.S. methane emissions.
When certain types of waste are left untreated, the potent methane emissions released through their decomposition contribute to the creation of ozone, increasing the risk of local agricultural losses and the development of medical conditions like asthma.
By handling organic waste, Vaulted offers a solution for CO2 emissions, and it also helps prevent a certain amount of methane emissions from reaching the atmosphere.
While the removed CO2 is relatively easy to quantify, the quantification of the avoided methane emissions is a complex equation with many variables, and Vaulted and Google are now teaming up in an attempt to develop a scientifically based approach for measuring this impact.
Relevant: Microsoft Backs Vaulted Deep And Its Waste Management CDR Approach
The two companies, along with Isometric, are bringing together experts on science, carbon accounting, and engineering to determine how much methane pollution is avoided through Vaulted’s operations.
In a recent blog post, Vaulted clarifies that this will be made with the sole purpose of understanding the climate impact and science needed for measuring methane avoidance, not for generating methane avoidance credits.
Looking ahead, the two companies hope to deliver a scientific base that can contribute to better decision-making across different climate sectors.
Read more: Vaulted Deep Delivers Carbon Removal To Frontier In Record Time
