Amazon is purchasing carbon removal credits from 1PointFive and investing in CarbonCapture Inc. to help accelerate the development of direct air capture (DAC) solutions. This DAC investment is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Amazon is supporting the world’s largest deployment of DAC technology by committing to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal over 10 years from STRATOS, 1PointFive’s first DAC plant. This is equivalent to the amount of carbon stored naturally across more than 290,000 acres of U.S. forests, roughly half the size of the state of Rhode Island. Carbon captured under this agreement will be stored deep underground in saline aquifers, which are large geological rock formations that are saturated in salt water.
With these new investments, DAC will become one component of Amazon’s broader sustainability strategy, which also includes developing nature-based solutions, such as forest conservation and restoration.
“Amazon’s primary focus is to decarbonise our global operations through our transition to renewable energy, building with more sustainable materials, and electrifying our delivery fleet and global logistics,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of worldwide sustainability at Amazon. “We are also pursuing changes such as reducing the weight of packaging per shipment for our customers. At the same time, we also need to seek every possible avenue to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. These investments in direct air capture complement our emissions reductions plans, and we are excited to support the growth and deployment of this technology.”
1PointFive is currently constructing its first DAC plant in Ector County, Texas. When fully operational, the plant is expected to be the largest in the world and designed to capture up to 500,000 tons of CO2 annually. It will also use digital infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to analyse real-time performance data and optimise operations, and enable 1PointFive to apply these learnings in its future DAC plants. This purchase agreement with Amazon is one of the largest ever for a DAC facility.
“Amazon’s industry-leading purchase and long-term contract represent a significant commitment to direct air capture as a vital carbon removal solution,” said Michael Avery, president and general manager of 1PointFive. “The addition of 1PointFive’s high-integrity, quantifiable carbon removal credits support Amazon’s path to achieve net-zero and shows the growing role that DAC technology will play in decarbonisation pathways. We are excited to collaborate with Amazon to help them achieve their sustainability goals.”
