Negative Emissions Platform welcomes Stripe’s last round of funding for negative emission technologies

The last round of carbon removal purchases by Stripe, the technology company building economic infrastructure for the Internet, showcases the role of private companies in future-proofing Negative Emissions Technology pathways. Having these technologies ready and at scale in the next few years is essential to keep global warming below 1.5 °C and avoid irreversible damage from climate change.  

June 3, 2021

Negative Emissions Platform welcomes the results of Stripe’s latest round of carbon removal purchases. In total, Stripe will help remove 4.035 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, mainly through novel methods developed by start-ups.

The purchase of carbon removals from 6 innovative projects sends a clear message about the importance of:

  • supporting and scaling the permanent carbon removal and storage ecosystem;

  • corporations as active players in developing the ecosystem around carbon removals technologies and solutions, rather than passive buyers, as well as prioritising R&D and novel pathways over the amount of CO2 removed;

  • looking beyond volume and cost by helping start-ups to lower their costs as they learn by doing and scale-up;

  • including renewal clauses into contracts with the start-ups, to show long-term commitment and with a clear intention to support their long-term development;

  • acting transparently by publishing all results, methodologies, and purchase prices.


“The combination of carbon removal purchases, grants for technological development and the inclusion of renewal clauses into the contracts signed with the start-ups selected in this round of funding is the perfect trifecta for a demand-driven scale-up of negative emissions.”

Jaco Van Der Bank, Senior Policy Advisor Negative Emissions Platform

Regarding the projects selected, a high portion of the proposals included innovative approaches, including technologies that had never been selected before in similar funding efforts. This was reflected in a higher price per ton removed as these technologies are in need of higher investments to become fully operational.

The lowest purchase price per ton of CO2 removed was €164/ tCO2 for a project to be carried out by the Future Forest Company, focusing on enhanced weathering with biochar. The highest, at €1.684,28 /tCO2 went to Heirloom Carbon Technologies, which is developing a novel approach combining direct air capture and mineralisation.

One of the main differences between the latest round of purchases and others, such as Stripes’ own carbon removal purchases in 2020, or similar endeavours from Microsoft in 2021 and Shopify in 2020, was the strong requirement around carbon storage and durability. One of the selection criteria for the call for projects was a target to keep CO2 stored for at least 1000 years.

The focus on permanence meant that, compared with Stripe’s purchase of carbon removals in 2020, the number of project applications and the amount of CO2 removals on offer was lower and excluded technologies that could not ensure a 1000 years storage period.

Of the six selected projects, four are based in the USA and two in the United Kingdom.


By the numbers

In 2021, Stripe purchased 4035 tCO2 at a total cost of €1.488 300,00 with an average of €368,85 per tCO2 removed. R&D grants for the three companies come in at  €766.700,00 in total. 

All six companies have conditional renewal clauses that kick in between 2024 and 2026, totalling €4.305.000,00. 

In detail

Carbon Built US-based - mineralisation with sequestration in concrete. $260/ tCO2 for 968 tCO2 total purchase $250.000 with a conditional renewal of $250.000 in June 2024.

Heirloom US-based - Direct Air Capture via mineralisation. $2.054/tCO2 for 244 tCO2 total purchase $500.000 with a conditional renewal purchase of $1.000.000 in June 2025.

Mission Zero Technologies UK-based - Direct Air Capture using an electrochemical separation process - a first of a kind (FOAK) project. $319/tC02 for 358 tCO2 total purchase $115.000 plus R&D grant of $358 000 with a conditional renewal purchase of $1.000.000 in 2026.

Running Tide US-based - Deep water kelp farming carbon sequestration experiment. $250/tCO2 for ~600 tCO2 total purchase $150.000 plus R&D grant of $350.000 with a conditional renewal purchase of $1.000.000 in 2024 +/- 2 years.

Seachange US-based - Seawater mineralisation reactors for CO2 removal with hydrogen co-production - FOAK project. $1.370/tCO2 for 365 tCO2 total purchase $500.000 with a conditional renewal purchase of $1 000 000 between 2-3 years.

The Future Forest Company UK-based - enhanced weathering, biochar and reforestation for carbon removal. $200/tCO2 for 1500 tCO2 total purchase $300.000 plus an R&D grant of $200.000 with a conditional renewal purchase of $1.000.000 in early 2024.