Arbor to Supply Carbon Removal Credits, Electricity for Microsoft

Starting in 2027, Arbor agreed to deliver 25,000 tons of permanent CO₂ removal to Microsoft. It will provide 5,000 tons of carbon removal per year while generating 5 MW of clean electricity, using available organic waste as fuel for its modular system. All carbon removal delivered to Microsoft will be registered with Isometric for Biogenic Carbon Capture and Sequestration.

“This contract with Microsoft serves as a significant endorsement,” said Brad Hartwig, CEO of Arbor. “Microsoft’s commitment to draw down their historical emissions by 2050 aligns with our mission to bring the planet back into balance with carbon-negative electricity and permanent carbon removal.”

The initial facility, which will deliver credits to Microsoft, will sequester and permanently store 75,000 tons of carbon per year. Upon full-scale operation in 2030, it will generate 100 MW of electricity while removing approximately two million tons of carbon per year.

“The technical promise and modularity of Arbor’s system makes it a compelling climate solution,” said Brian Marrs, Senior Director for Carbon Removal and Energy at Microsoft. “Arbor has established a clear, actionable blueprint for simultaneously removing CO₂ while producing clean electricity. We look forward to collaborating with the Arbor team on our path to carbon-negativity.”

Modular power station; Image Credits: Arbor

Arbor’s system is based on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage but equipped with novel technology to make it emissions-free and compact. With oxy-combustion and supercritical turbomachinery, Arbor’s system is cheaper and faster to deploy than a traditional power plant, without decreasing efficiency.

News from Microsoft

In late 2023, SLB and the Northern Lights joint venture (NL) have signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to optimize the integrated cloud-based workflows for NL’s carbon-capture and storage (CCS) operations. The collaboration will support the development of scalable, cost-efficient digital solutions for the CCS industry.

Microsoft plans on deploying its Azure platform to guarantee scalable cloud services that support NL’s business and the SLB digital CCS workflows. Microsoft and SLB are cooperating on the development of an Azure-compliant open-source data platform to serve as the digital infrastructure for NL.

In January 2024, Caterpillar collaborated with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems to demonstrate the feasibility of deploying large-format hydrogen fuel cells to supply sustainable backup power for data centers. The technology demonstration provided insight on the capabilities of fuel cell systems to power multi-MW data centers, guaranteeing power supply to meet 99.99% uptime requirements.

It was conducted in a challenging environment and validated the hydrogen fuel cell power system’s performance at a height of 6,086 ft. above sea level in below-freezing conditions. The demonstration simulated a 48-hour backup power event at a Microsoft data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in which a hydrogen fuel cell was integrated into the data center electrical plant to support critical load.