Google has signed its largest CO2 removal agreement to date with enhanced rock weathering company Terradot. The deal covers 1 million tons of methane elimination by 2030 and 1 million tons of durable carbon removal by 2040, all generated from a rice farming project in Brazil that will use alternate wetting and drying on over 200,000 hectares to cut methane and water use, alongside spreading crushed basalt for rock weathering. This is the first project to combine near-term methane reduction with long-term carbon removal at megaton scale, and the largest enhanced rock weathering project announced so far. For carbon market watchers, the key points are the bundling of two different climate actions, methane reductions that are non-permanent but impactful in the short term, and ERW removal that stores CO2 durably. The project also brings co-benefits like improved soil health and reduced water costs for farmers, which may improve adoption. However, verification of both methane reductions from AWD and the permanence of rock weathering will be critical to the credibility of the credits.
