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Google to buy 100,000 T of offsets from Indian carbon

removal

projects

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Indian developer to convert agricultural waste into

CO2-rich

charcoal

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Carbon dioxide removal market set to grow as firms look

for

offset opportunities

SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Google will buy

carbon credits from an Indian initiative that turns large

amounts of agricultural waste into biochar - a form of charcoal

that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and returns it

to the soil, it said on Thursday.

The deal - signed by Google and Indian supplier Varaha - is

one of the biggest ever involving biochar, and is the tech

giant's first foray into India's carbon dioxide removal (CDR)

sector.

Google is one of a number of big tech companies looking to

offset emissions through CDR, which refers to a range of

interventions designed to remove CO2 already in the atmosphere

and oceans.

While some developers are looking at expensive new

technologies that extract CO2 directly from the air, solutions

like biochar could prove a cheaper near-term option.

"Biochar is a promising approach to carbon removal because

it has the ability to scale worldwide, using existing

technology, with positive side effects for soil health," said

Randy Spock, Google's carbon removal lead.

Varaha will buy waste from hundreds of smallholder farms in

India and build reactors to convert it into biochar, which can

sequester CO2 for hundreds of years. It will also be supplied to

farmers as an alternative to fertilisers.

Google will buy 100,000 tons of carbon credits from now

until 2030. Varaha's chief executive Madhur Jain said there was

scope for rapid growth, with waste from India's farms capable of

generating enough biochar to store more than 100 million tons of

CO2 every year.

CDR accounts for only a fraction of global carbon trading

but is expected to grow rapidly as countries and corporations

seek new ways to offset emissions.

However, critics say CDR is no substitute for emission cuts.

They also warn that solutions like biochar offer no guarantee

the CO2 will be removed permanently.

"We are going to face peak warming," said Jain. "Even if

something just reduces (CO2) or removes it for only 20 to 40 or

50 years, I feel that we need to do everything that we can."