Google and enhanced rock weathering (ERW) company Terradot announced Wednesday a new agreement pairing methane and carbon removal technologies, targeting both near- and long-term climate mitigation impact, to be generated from a new project implementing climate solutions at rice farms across Brazil.

The agreement by Google to purchase 1 million tons CO2e of methane elimination by 2030, and a further 1 million tons of carbon removal by 2040 marks the tech giant’s largest CO2 removal deal to date, in addition to representing the largest ERW project ever undertaken, as well as the first of any kind combining near-term methane elimination with durable carbon removal at scale.

Google’s GHG removal program has focused on a combination of projects targeting superpollutants, such as methane, which can have a substantially stronger warming impact than CO2 in the near-term, but remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time, and those targeting carbon, which can remain in the atmosphere for centuries.

The companies said that the new agreement addresses both near and long-term climate impact, by applying a combination of methane and carbon removal solutions to one project.

Randy Spock, Head of Carbon Removal at Google, said:

“While most climate solutions are focused on either short- or long-term horizons, our partnership with Terradot will tackle both timelines simultaneously. It will combine superpollutant elimination and carbon removal to deliver megaton-scale climate impact by 2030 — and make it last permanently.”

Spock added that the agreement was built “to be a template, not a one-off,” and to provide “replicable path to making a real dent in climate change in both the near and long term.”

Founded in 2022, Terradot provides a carbon removal solution based on transforming the natural process of rock weathering. The company’s ERW solution speeds up the natural process through which CO2 from rainwater is locked into rocks over time by crushing basalt rock and spreading it over vast areas of farmland, with the additional benefit of improving soil health at the same time.

Rice cultivation, which involves the continuous flooding of paddy fields, accounts for approximately 12% of global methane emissions, making it the second-largest source of agricultural methane emissions after livestock. Rice is also one of the water-intensive crops, while much of it is grown in basins subject to ‘extremely high’ or ‘high’ baseline water stress.

Under the new project, Terradot will help rice farmers in Brazil across more than 200,000 hectares to adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), an irrigation practice that periodically drains flooded paddies, cutting water use and sharply reducing the methane they release.

Alongside the AWD adoption, Terradot will also spread crushed volcanic rock on farmland to generate durable carbon removal.

In addition to the GHG removal, the companies highlighted benefits anticipated to be generated from the project for the farmers, including reduced water use and costs from the AWD adoption, and improved soil health from ERW.

James Kanoff, CEO of Terradot, said:

“For years, climate action has been framed as a choice, either move fast on the warming happening now or remove carbon permanently. Our project with Google eliminates that trade-off. We are pairing two proven technologies and deploying them together at a massive scale. With this new model, every tonne of removal meets the same rigorous standard, and delivers climate impact faster than ever.”