Microsoft has signed a seven year deal with Danish biogas producer BioCirc to remove 650,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The project uses carbon capture and storage to pump CO2 from biogas plants into the North Sea seabed. This move follows reports that Microsoft had paused its carbon dioxide removal (CDR) purchasing. The company remains a dominant force in the durable CDR market, often accounting for a significant portion of all global contracted removals.
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Microsoft is back in the market. They are buying 650k tons over seven years from BioCirc. It is a BECCS play using Danish biogas plants and North Sea storage. Worth reading to see if the reported pause was just a rumor or a strategic pivot.
The fact that Microsoft and the Danish Energy Agency were prerequisites for the project shows how dependent these early CCS chains are on a single big buyer. It is a risky way to build a market.
Exactly. If Microsoft shifts its strategy again, these projects could stall. The market needs more diversified buyers instead of relying on one tech giant for 80 percent of durable removals.
The technical part is the liquid CO2 transport to the seabed. I wonder what the actual energy penalty is for the capture at these five plants. Does the net carbon removal account for the energy used to compress and move the gas?
