A blockbuster Tuesday for carbon removal. The private sector doubled down, two governments put real money on the table, infrastructure got creative with biochar, and the first global rulebook for CDR credits started taking shape. Five stories, one throughline: the demand signal for permanent carbon removal is getting louder from every direction.
Today on CaptainDrawdown
💰 Big Tech Carbon Credit Purchases Explode — Up 181% in One Year
The numbers are staggering. Big Tech purchased 68.4 million permanent carbon removal credits in 2025, up 181% from the previous year. Microsoft leads the pack, but Amazon, Google, and Meta are all scaling their commitments fast.
The driver? AI infrastructure. Data centers are eating electricity at a pace that makes corporate net-zero targets mathematically impossible without carbon removal. As one CEO put it: the AI buildout has made CDR not optional, but existential for corporate climate pledges.
This isn’t philanthropy — it’s procurement. And that distinction matters enormously for the CDR industry’s path to commercial scale.
🇨🇦 Canada Becomes First National Government to Buy CDR Credits
History made in Ottawa. Canada launched the first dedicated national government procurement program for carbon dioxide removal credits — $10 million CAD allocated for federal departments to purchase credits from Canadian DAC, BECCS, biochar, and enhanced mineralization projects.
This is exactly the demand signal the industry has been waiting for from governments. Corporate buyers have led CDR procurement so far, but sovereign demand adds a different kind of credibility and scale potential. Other governments are watching closely.
🇸🇪 Sweden Commits $34M to Negative Emissions Under Industriklivet
The Nordics continue to quietly lead on CDR policy. Sweden announced two new funding calls under its Industriklivet program: $32 million (SEK 300M) for scaling and commercializing negative emissions technologies, plus $1.6 million (SEK 15M) for research. Bio-CCS, DAC, and geological storage are all eligible across the full value chain. Applications close April 29.
While the US political debate stalls on whether climate change is real, Sweden is funding the scale-up of solutions. The contrast speaks for itself.
🛣️ Roads as Carbon Sinks: Verde Locks In Major Biochar Supply
What if the roads you drive on were actively storing carbon? Verde just secured 38,500 tons per year of engineered biochar supply for its BioAsphalt™ technology — asphalt that incorporates biochar to sequester CO₂. They’ve already earned the world’s first carbon removal credits from an asphalt application, verified by Puro.earth.
Infrastructure-based CDR is quietly becoming real. When carbon removal piggybacks on things we’re building anyway — roads, buildings, concrete — the economics start looking very different from standalone capture.
📜 The First Global Rules for CDR Credits Are Being Written Right Now
Perhaps the most consequential story of the day, even if it lacks the flashy numbers. The first global rulebook for carbon removal credits is being drafted, driven by the IPCC’s finding that large-scale CDR is necessary for every pathway to net-zero by 2050.
The stakes are enormous: how we define, verify, price, and trade permanent carbon removal will shape the entire market for decades. Get the rules right, and CDR scales with integrity. Get them wrong, and we risk repeating the mistakes of offset markets past.
Also Noteworthy
🔬 Sustaera targets cheaper DAC with new design — The North Carolina-based startup is working on a redesigned direct air capture system aimed at dramatically reducing costs. Details are sparse, but any credible effort to push DAC below $200/ton matters. (Source)
🌡️ CDR and temperature variability — A new study finds that short-term temperature variability declines as CO₂ rises and stays suppressed for about two decades even after emissions drop. Using idealized CDR scenarios, researchers show day-to-day temperature swings recover more slowly than mean temperatures. Another reminder that the climate system has long memory. (Source)
📋 SBTi Net Zero Standard 2.0 and carbon removal — Robert Höglund published a detailed analysis of what needs to change in the Science Based Targets initiative’s updated standard to properly scale CDR. Worth reading for anyone working on corporate climate strategy. (Source)
📊 Daily Snapshot
| Category | Signal |
|---|---|
| Corporate demand | Big Tech CDR purchases up 181% YoY — AI infrastructure is the accelerant |
| Government procurement | Canada first in the world with sovereign CDR credit purchasing; $10M CAD program live |
| Nordic leadership | Sweden adds $34M for negative emissions scaling under Industriklivet |
| Infrastructure CDR | Verde’s BioAsphalt™ turns roads into carbon sinks with 38,500 t/yr biochar |
| Global governance | First international CDR credit rulebook being drafted — will define the market for decades |
| DAC innovation | Sustaera redesigning DAC for lower costs; bio-DAC and engineered approaches both advancing |
CaptainDrawdown covers the business, science, and politics of carbon dioxide removal. Follow us on Bluesky, X, and Mastodon.