In the fight against climate change, the e-commerce giant Amazon is making its first investments in DAC (direct air capture) technology, which removes carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
To help accelerate the development of direct air capture (DAC) solutions, the company will help fund the world’s largest deployment of DAC technology by committing to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal over the next decade from STRATOS, the first DAC plant from 1PointFive, a carbon removal technology company. When fully operational, the plant is expected to be the largest in the world and designed to capture up to 500,000 tons of CO2 annually.
This DAC investment is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Amazon did not reveal any financial details of the deal.
Carbon captured under this agreement will be stored deep underground in saline aquifers, which are large geological rock formations that are saturated in salt water.
In addition, through its Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon is also investing in CarbonCapture Inc., a climate technology company recognized for its pioneering modular DAC systems. The firm is helping to accelerate the commercial deployment of new DAC materials responsible for filtering CO2 from the atmosphere.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it’s necessary to remove about 1 trillion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the course of this century to keep global warming below the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit set by the Paris Agreement.
With these two new investments in direct air capture, Amazon aims to target emissions they can’t otherwise eliminate at their source.
“Amazon’s primary focus is to decarbonize our global operations through our transition to renewable energy, building with more sustainable materials, and electrifying our delivery fleet and global logistics,” Kara Hurst, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide sustainability, said in a release.
“We are also pursuing changes such as reducing the weight of packaging per shipment for our customers. At the same time, we also need to seek every possible avenue to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. These investments in direct air capture complement our emissions reduction plans, and we are excited to support the growth and deployment of this technology.”
