The next big thing in carbon capture? Trash

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Wall Street Journal or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Tech giants including Google, Stripe, and Salesforce (See sustainability performance) are investing nearly $32 million into a pioneering carbon-capture project at a waste-to-energy plant in Oslo, Norway
• The initiative, part of the broader Northern Lights project, aims to remove 100,000 metric tons of CO₂ from 2029 to 2030 by capturing emissions from incinerated household waste
• The CO₂ will be stored under the North Sea in geological formations left by oil and gas extraction

🔭 The context: The project is led by Hafslund Celsio, Norway’s largest district heating provider, and supported by the Norwegian government
• Waste is categorised into fossil and biogenic materials before incineration, with up to 90% of resulting emissions captured for storage
• The project generates two types of carbon credits—high-value removal credits from biogenic waste and lower-value avoidance credits from fossil waste

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This approach addresses two major emissions sources—methane from landfills and CO₂ from incineration—while producing low-carbon energy
• It offers a scalable path for countries aiming to cut waste-related emissions and boost clean energy
• Experts estimate 500 similar European sites could remove up to 400 million tons of CO₂ by 2050 if replicated

⏭️ What's next: Frontier’s forward-purchase model aims to stimulate the carbon removal market by funding early-stage technologies
• Norway’s long-standing carbon tax and public financing help de-risk such projects, providing a blueprint for replication in the UK and Germany
• The effort reflects growing momentum toward industrial-scale carbon capture and removal solutions

💬 One quote: “With incineration, CO₂ directly enters the atmosphere—this is where CCS comes in. It brings the best of both worlds: no CO₂ entering the air today or methane in the future,” — Hasan Muslemani, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

📈 One stat: Replicating this method at 500 sites in Europe could remove 400 million tons of CO₂ by 2050

See here detailed sustainability performance of companies like Google, Stripe, Salesforce, Veolia, and Fortum

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