CDR Daily Digest — 28 Feb 2026
🔑 Top Story: Microsoft Is the Carbon Removal Market
A striking new finding from BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy: Microsoft purchased 93% of all carbon removal credits globally in 2025. It’s the first year the organizations tracked CDR demand specifically.
The numbers paint a picture of a market that’s growing fast but dangerously concentrated:
- Global CDR demand doubled between 2024 and 2025 to 57 million metric tons of CO₂
- Reforestation projects account for 56% of total volume
- Nature-based credits average $7–20/ton; tech-based CDR exceeds $500/ton (Sylvera)
- Microsoft’s emissions grew ~30% between 2020–2024, largely due to AI data center buildout
The takeaway: the industry urgently needs more anchor buyers — and government procurement programs — to diversify beyond a single corporate champion.
Quick Numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Microsoft’s share of global CDR purchases | 93% |
| Global CDR demand (2025) | 57 Mt CO₂ |
| YoY demand growth | 2x |
| Supercritical CORCs transacted (2025) | 63,296 |
| LEGO total CDR commitment | $8.5M |
| Holcim/Air Liquide CCS target | 1.1 Mt CO₂/yr |
| Texas A&M PICC capture cost | $26/ton |
🌊 Science: Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Clears a Major Hurdle
A team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution just reported results from the first-ever ship-based ocean alkalinity enhancement experiment. In August 2025, they poured 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine.
The results, announced at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow:
- 2–10 tonnes of CO₂ removed in the first four days; up to 50 tonnes estimated total
- No significant impact on marine life — plankton, fish larvae, lobster larvae all unaffected
- Carbon stored as bicarbonate ions with durability in the tens of thousands of years
One important caveat: lifecycle emissions from manufacturing and transporting the sodium hydroxide haven’t been calculated yet. Net removal still needs to be proven.
Also in marine CDR: a new study in Communications Sustainability mapped optimal US coastal sites for electrochemical marine carbon removal, ranking Texas/Louisiana highest for affordability and California for raw removal capacity.
💰 Market Moves
LEGO Group invests another $2.8M in CDR, bringing total commitments to $8.5M. The new investments span four projects with Climate Impact Partners and ClimeFi — covering reforestation in Mexico, biomass geological storage, carbon mineralization, and marine CDR via wastewater alkalinity enhancement.
Supercritical transacted 63,296 CO₂ Removal Certificates via Puro.earth in 2025 — the largest marketplace volumes for a second consecutive year. Key trend: buyers are pivoting from long-term catalytic commitments to near-term verified delivery.
Air Liquide and Holcim signed an agreement to deploy carbon capture at Holcim’s Obourg cement plant in Belgium — targeting 1.1 million tons of CO₂/year. Captured emissions would flow via Antwerp@C to permanent North Sea storage. FID still pending regulatory and public financing support.
Abatable and Space Intelligence partnered to improve Scope 3 emissions reporting, combining supply-shed mapping with geospatial datasets. They claim 60%+ more accuracy vs. default IPCC methodologies.
📋 Policy & Regulation
California moves ahead on climate disclosure. CARB approved the first implementing regulation for SB 253 (Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act), setting 2026 compliance deadlines for large companies — even as federal climate reporting faces rollbacks.
US EPA extends GHG reporting deadline from March 31 to June 10, 2026, part of broader reconsideration of reporting obligations under the current administration.
Europe’s CCUS financing gap widens. A new CCSA/Deloitte analysis warns that fragmented rules, unclear storage liability, and slow permitting are freezing capital. Without rapid coordination, developers may redirect CCUS investment to faster-moving jurisdictions.
Atlantic Council calls for global carbon accounting standard. A new issue brief argues that Climate Club nations should select a single carbon footprint methodology to unlock climate finance at scale.
🔬 Research Corner
$26/ton carbon capture? Texas A&M researchers developed Pressure Induced Carbon Capture (PICC) — using water and pressure changes instead of chemical solvents. Claims: 99% capture at $26/ton, compared to $50–100/ton for conventional amine-based systems. Still needs large-scale validation, but potentially transformative for cement, steel, and industrial sectors.
📊 Market Tone
Growing but fragile. CDR demand doubled in a year — that’s real momentum. But 93% buyer concentration is a systemic risk. Europe wants CCUS but can’t get projects financed. The OAE trial and low-cost capture research offer long-term hope. California provides a regulatory floor as federal oversight retreats. The next 12 months will tell us whether this market can graduate from one-buyer dependency to genuine multi-stakeholder demand.
Daily coverage of the carbon removal industry. Data-driven. Source-linked. No hype.