(Photo: Pixabay)
Microsoft signed another carbon removal agreement to help accelerate its climate goals. The tech giant made a deal with Grassroots Carbon, a startup offering nature-based soil carbon storage solutions, for soil carbon removal drawdown credits.
The carbon credits represent additional carbon sequestered over a 30-year period. They are Microsoft’s first investment in carbon credits came from regeneratively managed grasslands.
Brad Tipper, CEO of Grassroots Carbon, said the team is thrilled that “Microsoft is including soil credits in their carbon removal strategy. Soil carbon storage is an essential part of the climate solution, and our regenerative ranchers are trusted partners in that solution… Microsoft not only made a choice to reduce atmospheric carbon levels, but to do so with impacts far beyond just carbon.”
The startup partners with ranchers across the US to implement regenerative practices combining advanced science and climate technology. The company offers ranchers with rewards for storing CO2 through such practices.
Grassroots Carbon’ team is comprised of soil scientists, ranchers, software engineers and entrepreneurs with experiences from Amazon, Shell, Expedia, and Stanford University.
Grassroots land management practices are being tracked and managed by its grazing management software, PastureMap. It is a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) tool that improves grassland management by encouraging ranchers’ transition to rotational grazing.
Some of the practices are rotating their cattle between paddocks more frequently to allow the forage on grazed land to grow, rest, and recover.
The process accelerates photosynthesis, which captures carbon dioxide and draws it deep into the soil. If left undisturbed, the carbon remains sequestered for thousands of years.
Some benefits of rotational grazing include soil regeneration, increases microbiology, improves water retention, and enhance forage quality and quantity. These changes improve soil health and foster a robust ecosystem.
