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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Google’s September 2024 agreement commits $10 million to buy 100,000 metric tonnes of future carbon-removal credits from Holocene at $100 per tonne, with delivery planned for the early 2030s. Google also said it would provide upfront financial support, but its announcement described a credit-purchase agreement—not an equity investment. Holocene was acquired by Occidental in April 2025; Google later said the acquisition did not change its contract.
What Google agreed to buy
Google announced the agreement on September 10, 2024. Its headline value follows directly from the contracted volume and price:
| Deal term | What Google announced |
|---|---|
| Planned credits | 100,000 metric tonnes of carbon removal |
| Announced price | $100 per metric tonne |
| Headline contract value | $10 million |
| Planned delivery | Early 2030s |
The credits are for removals expected in the future; the agreement is not evidence that 100,000 tonnes have already been captured, verified, stored, or retired. Google said the arrangement included upfront financial support to help Holocene develop its planned facilities. The public announcement does not say Google acquired Holocene shares or other securities, so “purchase commitment with upfront support” is more precise than “equity investment.” Google’s announcement describes the terms.
How Holocene’s direct-air-capture process is supposed to work
Direct-air capture (DAC) removes carbon dioxide from ordinary air, where it is present in a highly diluted concentration. Air-moving equipment brings ambient air into contact with a capture medium. The medium binds some of the CO₂; a subsequent process releases it as a more concentrated stream. That gas must then be transported and durably stored if the goal is to keep it out of the atmosphere.
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Google describes Holocene’s approach as combining liquid- and solid-based capture characteristics. Amino acids and other organic compounds capture CO₂, and low-temperature heat helps release it. Google says the heat could come from carbon-free sources or waste heat, and that the process is designed around widely available industrial equipment. These are descriptions of the intended process and advantages, not independent proof of commercial performance or cost. The U.S. Department of Energy’s company analysis classifies Holocene as using a liquid capture medium with temperature-based regeneration; see its Direct Air Capture Definition and Company Analysis Report.
Capturing CO₂ is only part of the climate accounting. The net removal depends on emissions from the energy, materials, transport, compression, and storage used by the project, as well as whether the carbon remains stored. A capture system powered by high-emissions energy, or one whose CO₂ is used in a way that later releases it, would not deliver the same benefit as low-emissions capture followed by durable geological storage.
Why the $100-per-tonne figure drew attention
Google called $100 per tonne the lowest price on record for DAC credits at the time of its September 2024 announcement. It is a price in a specific long-term deal for future deliveries—not proof that DAC plants can currently remove carbon dioxide at that price across the industry.
The price relies on future performance: Holocene’s expected cost reductions, the value of a long-term buyer commitment, upfront support, and potential public incentives. Those factors can help a young supplier finance development, but they also mean the agreed price precedes proof that the planned facilities can deliver the contracted volume economically.
Google’s announcement said Holocene’s projects could qualify for a U.S. 45Q carbon-capture tax credit worth up to $180 per tonne under the rules it cited in 2024. That figure should not be read as an unconditional subsidy or a guaranteed payment to Holocene. Eligibility and value depend on statutory requirements and project details, including capture and storage arrangements, and may be affected by changes in law.
What changed when Occidental acquired Holocene
Occidental acquired Holocene in April 2025 for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition moved the technology from an independent startup into Occidental’s low-carbon business. Occidental said Holocene’s technology complemented its existing direct-air-capture work, including technology associated with Carbon Engineering. The deal therefore has a corporate context: Occidental is an oil-and-gas company with interests in carbon capture, storage, and carbon-management businesses.
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Chemical & Engineering News reported that Google said the acquisition did not change its contract with Holocene. The purchase remains a future-removal commitment, not proof of delivery. See C&EN’s acquisition coverage and Occidental’s 2025 Climate Report.
How much climate impact could 100,000 tonnes represent?
Google compared the planned removals with the annual emissions of roughly 20,000 gasoline-powered vehicles. That analogy helps convey scale, but it does not mean the credits offset Google’s entire footprint. Google itself said the deal was nowhere near the volume needed globally and described it as an early step toward commercial scale.
For an emerging technology, a 100,000-tonne commitment can provide a meaningful demand signal and help support facility development. In global climate terms, however, it is limited. It is also not interchangeable with avoiding emissions: reducing Google’s own emissions and procuring clean electricity address different parts of its climate strategy from buying removals for emissions that remain difficult to eliminate.
How the agreement fits Google’s broader carbon-removal strategy
Google presents carbon removal as one element of a broader path toward its net-zero emissions goal, alongside measures such as clean electricity and energy efficiency. In a February 2025 update, the company said it had contracted for more than $100 million in carbon-removal credits during 2024. It described a portfolio that includes DAC, enhanced rock weathering, biochar, and biomass-related removal. That portfolio context is in Google’s carbon-removal update.
Credits can support projects intended to remove carbon, but they do not by themselves demonstrate that a buyer has eliminated its operational or value-chain emissions. Their contribution depends on delivery, accounting, verification, and permanence; they should be understood alongside—not as a substitute for—emissions reduction.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What still has to be demonstrated
The original delivery window is the early 2030s. The public sources cited here establish the contract and the later acquisition, but do not establish that the full contracted volume has been captured, verified, stored, or delivered. The climate value will depend on results that are still project-specific:
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- Net removal: What remains after accounting for energy, materials, transport, compression, and storage emissions?
- Energy and resource use: How much electricity, heat, water, and land will the system need per tonne, and how will the capture compounds perform over time?
- Scale and reliability: Can pilot or smaller-scale performance carry over to an industrial facility, including under real-world conditions such as humidity, dust, and atmospheric contaminants?
- Storage and permanence: Where will the concentrated CO₂ go, what infrastructure and permits are required, and will it remain durably stored?
- Measurement and delivery: How will an independent verifier establish the net tonnes removed, and what happens if facility construction or credit delivery is delayed or the planned volume is not achieved?
- Cost and accounting: Does the $100 contract price cover transport, storage, monitoring, financing, and long-term obligations, and would the removals have happened at the same scale without the buyer’s support?
These questions matter for any future DAC credit. They are especially relevant when the announced price depends on facilities and cost reductions that were still planned rather than demonstrated at commercial scale.
What the deal means—and what it does not
Google’s Holocene agreement is best read as a long-term purchase commitment that combines future credit demand with upfront support for a developing removal technology. Its significance rests on whether Holocene, now owned by Occidental, can build and operate facilities that deliver independently verifiable net removals and durable storage at the contracted scale and price.
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