Amazon Invests in Direct Air Capture of Carbon Emissions

SEATTLE — Amazon said Tuesday that it is making two sizable investments intended to further both the development of direct air capture technologies to scrub the atmosphere of harmful carbon and its own goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The first investment is a commitment to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal credits over 10 years from STRATOS, a direct air capture plant currently being built in Ector County, Texas, by 1PointFive.

Once completed, the plant is expected to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually when fully operational, making it the largest plant in the world, and a milestone in reaching a climate-relevant scale.

Though no dollar amount has been announced in relation to the deal, Amazon said its purchase will be equivalent to the amount of carbon stored naturally across more than 290,000 acres of U.S. forests — roughly half the size of the state of Rhode Island. 

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.

Amazon is also making an unspecified investment in CarbonCapture Inc., a Los Angeles, California-based climate technology company. 

On its website, CarbonCapture says its direct air capture machines use solid sorbents that soak up atmospheric CO2 when cooled and release concentrated CO2 when heated. 

The captured CO2 can then be permanently stored underground or used to make synthetic fuels, low-carbon concrete, carbon black or other industrial products that require clean CO2.

The company goes on to say that its platform is “deeply modular” and is designed to allow for upgrades that will slow its obsolescence.

“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,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon, in a written statement. 

“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 reductions plans, and we are excited to support the growth and deployment of this technology,” Hurst said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue