Zurich, 16.11.2021
- Scientists and opinion leaders agree that direct air capture and storage is needed to fight climate change and the technology needs to be scaled up as fast as possible, as highlighted in recent IPCC report.
- Ocado Retail, the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, has signed an agreement with Climeworks, a leader in carbon dioxide removal via direct air capture technology.
- As part of its wider sustainability strategy, Ocado Retail purchases 1’000 tons of carbon dioxide removal from Climeworks, the equivalent of what the company will emit over the next seven years at its HQ.
Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal serves new industry with Ocado Retail
Ocado Retail - a joint venture between Ocado Group and Marks & Spencer and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket - is the first grocery retailer to have signed a carbon dioxide removal agreement with Climeworks. Joining the likes of Audi and Microsoft, the online supermarket is helping to pave the way for a more sustainable future and is acting as a first mover within its industry.
Through this new deal, Ocado Retail has paid for over 1’000 tons of carbon dioxide to be removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of what the brand will emit over the next seven years at its HQ in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Climeworks’ carbon dioxide removal thus helps to make their head office net zero.
Direct air capture as a solution to permanently remove CO2 from the air
Climeworks’ clever technology consists of modular CO₂ collectors that capture CO2 from the atmosphere, which can then be permanently stored. Climeworks’ largest and most recent facility named “Orca” was launched in Iceland this September, where the air-captured CO2 is permanently stored via mineralization in basaltic rock formations thanks to Carbfix’ technology. The entire process is powered solely by renewable energy. The technology is scalable and does not compete with arable land and, by storing the captured carbon in basaltic rock formations deep underground, it stays safely stored for thousands of years.
Its methods are regarded as one of the highest-quality carbon removal solutions currently on the market. Carbon dioxide removal, the permanent removal of CO2 from the air, is an important tool in the fight against climate change. The IPCC clearly states that in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, carbon removal solutions like direct air capture and storage are urgently needed on a large scale because they allow to remove residual emissions and get to net zero.
Climeworks one puzzle piece of Ocado Retail’s overall net zero strategy
The Climeworks carbon removal agreement is the latest addition to Ocado Retail’s overarching sustainability strategy to become entirely net zero by 2040. As well as working to remove residual emissions, Ocado is working to reduce emissions across its entire operations, in line with the British Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap. The BRC works with retailers, their suppliers, government and other stakeholders to collectively deliver the industry’s net-zero ambition.
More companies purchasing Climeworks’ high-quality carbon removal means a growing demand for such solutions, which, in turn, supports the technology’s scale-up: the direct air capture capacity will be further increased to meet this growing demand until it reaches climate-relevant scales.
Quotes
“We are excited and thankful to welcome a new industry leader through the agreement with Ocado. Ocado Retail’s net zero strategy is a great example of how emissions reduction and emissions removal should be combined.“Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-founder of Climeworks
“We are immensely proud to be the first supermarket in the world to have a net zero office. Running a sustainable business is incredibly important to us and our customers and our deal with Climeworks will help as we continue to look at ways of reducing our carbon footprint.”Daniel Costigan, sustainability lead at Ocado Retail
About Climeworks
Climeworks empowers people and companies to fight global warming by offering carbon dioxide removal as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology. At Orca, Climeworks’ DAC facility in Iceland, the CO2 is permanently removed from the air by capturing and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’ storage partner Carbfix. Climeworks’ DAC facilities run exclusively on clean energy, and our modular CO2 collectors can be stacked to build machines of any capacity.
Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale. To do so, we strive to inspire 1 billion people to act and remove CO2 from the air. Climeworks is spear-heading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s largest DAC facility and storage installation in operation and a team of 300 Climeworkers determined to contribute to a net-zero future. Our growing customer base includes over 160 companies, including multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS or Swiss Re, as well as more than 18,000 individual Climate Pioneers.
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