An F1 team just assembled one of the most diversified carbon removal portfolios in the corporate world. Not a tech company. Not an energy major. A racing team.
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 announced a major expansion of their carbon removal commitments, adding 7 new projects across 6 distinct CDR technology types, curated by CUR8. The total commitment: approximately 18,900 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The technology spread: Direct Air Capture, Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage, BECCS, Biochar, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, and Enhanced Rock Weathering.
That’s not a token offset purchase. That’s a real portfolio strategy.
Why This Matters
Most corporate carbon removal commitments are single-technology bets — usually a DAC pre-purchase or some forestry credits. Mercedes is doing something different: spreading risk across six fundamentally different approaches to pulling CO₂ out of the atmosphere. If one technology hits scaling problems, the others provide coverage. This is what the Oxford Offsetting Principles actually recommend, and Mercedes explicitly cites them as their guiding framework.
The geographic alignment is clever too. Projects span Brazil, Canada, the US, the UK, Denmark, and India — countries where the F1 circus actually races. Impact where you operate, not just where credits are cheapest.
The Greenhushing Contrast
Here’s what makes this announcement stand out: timing. Across industries, companies are quietly walking back climate pledges. The phenomenon even has a name — “greenhushing” — where firms keep commitments but stop talking about them, or quietly drop targets altogether.
Mercedes is going the other direction. Alice Ashpitel, the team’s Head of Sustainability, presented the strategy at Economist Impact’s Sustainability Week. The target remains Race Team Control Net Zero by 2030.
Partners include CUR8 (portfolio curation), Carboneers (biochar), and InPlanet (enhanced rock weathering in Brazil) — all names that serious CDR watchers will recognize.
The Bigger Picture
At ~18,900 tCO₂e, this isn’t going to move the needle on global emissions. But that’s not the point. The point is a high-visibility brand demonstrating what a credible, diversified removal portfolio looks like. Every company making net-zero pledges needs to eventually buy durable removal. Mercedes just published a blueprint for how to do it without putting all eggs in one basket.
For the CDR industry, the signal matters as much as the tonnes: there’s real corporate demand for a mix of technologies, not just the cheapest available credit.