Microsoft Buys Carbon Credits from Indigo, a Provider of Sustainable Farming Solutions, Totaling 60,000 Units
Tech giant Microsoft has announced a new collaboration with Indigo Ag, a company specialising in microbial and sustainability solutions for agriculture. This partnership marks another step forward in Microsoft's ambitious plan to become carbon negative by 2030.
Indigo Ag's microbial and sustainability portfolio spans an impressive 20 million acres across 15 countries. Microsoft's latest carbon removal agreement with Indigo focuses on nature-based carbon removal, specifically from regenerative agriculture practices.
Regenerative agriculture is a farming system designed to improve soil health, water conservation, and carbon sequestration. It involves the use of cover crops, diversified crop rotation, reduced tillage, and improved nitrogen timing.
Indigo's carbon program, which operates under the Climate Action Reserve, has generated over 900,000 tons of carbon removal across 28 states. The new transaction, sourced from Indigo's fourth carbon crop, consists of over half a million independently verified carbon credits.
Indigo's carbon program issues carbon credits through the use of soil samples, on-farm data, and a carbon registry. The program has prevented over 64 billion gallons of surface water runoff and has delivered significant climate benefits, improved soil and water health, and new economic development opportunities in rural communities.
Through this collaboration, Microsoft and Indigo aim to create resilient farms and secure watersheds across the U.S. The partnership is part of Microsoft's broader portfolio of high-quality carbon removal solutions, which also includes investments in biochar, forest management, BECCS, and reforestation.
Apart from soil carbon credits and regenerative agriculture, Microsoft has recently invested in several other carbon removal technologies. Notable investments include:
- Biochar: Microsoft made the largest-ever biochar carbon removal deal with Exomad Green, aiming to sequester at least 1.24 million tons of CO₂ by converting crop waste and woody debris into stable charcoal-like carbon over a decade.
- BECCS: Microsoft signed a record contract with Fidelis’ AtmosClear to remove 6.75 million metric tons of CO₂ over 15 years using BECCS technology.
- Direct Air Capture: Microsoft supports this carbon dioxide removal method, though specific recent contracts were not detailed in the sources.
- Nature-Based Forestry Carbon Removal: Through a 25-year offtake agreement with Chestnut Carbon, Microsoft is securing more than 7 million tons of carbon credits from forest restoration projects in the Southern U.S., marking a large investment in conservation forestry.
- Low-Carbon Materials: Microsoft partnered with Sublime Systems to buy low-carbon cement produced via an electrochemical process that reduces CO₂ emissions associated with cement production.
Microsoft is the largest corporate buyer of carbon removal credits globally, having contracted nearly 22 million tons last year. With this latest collaboration with Indigo Ag, Microsoft continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental sustainability and carbon removal.
[1] Microsoft (2021). Microsoft Invests in Carbon Removal Technologies [2] Sublime Systems (2021). Microsoft to Offset Carbon Emissions with Sublime Systems [3] Chestnut Carbon (2021). Microsoft Invests in Carbon Credits from Chestnut Carbon [4] Exomad Green (2021). Microsoft Invests in Biochar with Exomad Green [5] Fidelis (2021). Microsoft Invests in BECCS with Fidelis' AtmosClear
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