Google has announced a partnership with waste management start-up Vaulted Deep to remove carbon from the atmosphere and develop a methodology for measuring reductions in methane emissions. Vaulted Deep, spun out from Advantek in 2023, works with municipalities, industrial operators, and agricultural producers to manage organic waste that cannot be reused or safely applied to land. The company sequesters sludgy organic wastes, such as biosolids, manure, agricultural and food waste, and paper sludge, to prevent them from being incinerated or landfilled. This process involves transforming the waste into a carbon-rich slurry and injecting it deep underground for permanent storage, offering over 10,000 years of permanence.
In 2024, Google signed an initial carbon removal agreement with Vaulted Deep, facilitated by the buyer coalition Frontier. Under the new partnership, Google has committed to purchasing an additional 50,000 tonnes of CO2 removal by 2030. Vaulted Deep’s process not only aids in carbon removal but also offers substantial climate benefits through methane reduction. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, has up to 80 times the warming power of CO2. The waste sector accounts for approximately 40% of US methane emissions, according to the EPA.
Quantifying methane emissions reductions is complex, with variations due to waste type, handling, and environmental factors. Vaulted Deep highlighted the lack of consistent methods for accurately accounting for methane’s climate impacts. Bryan Epps, Head of Commercialisation at Vaulted Deep, stated, “This is a complex scientific challenge, and we’re tackling it with partners who share our curiosity and commitment to scientific rigour. We know the impact is there. The next step is proving it.”
In collaboration with carbon removal registry Isometric, Google and Vaulted Deep will explore how to quantify methane emissions elimination. The partnership will initially focus on establishing rigorous criteria for methane measurement and accounting, followed by producing a detailed scientific report and sharing the findings openly to inform sector-wide decisions. Randy Spock, Carbon Credits and Removals Lead at Google, commented, “This partnership builds on our efforts to mitigate the impacts of superpollutants like methane, which warms the planet 80 times as powerfully as CO2 in the near term. This marks an important step in expanding the same scientific rigour and transparency for measuring the atmospheric impact of CO2 to superpollutants.”
