Google backs massive Brazil project to cut rice methane and pull CO2 from air

Google has entered its biggest carbon-removal contract to date, partnering with Brazilian developer Terradot on a 200,000-hectare enhanced rock-weathering project in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. The initiative targets methane emissions from rice cultivation while simultaneously accelerating natural rock processes that absorb atmospheric CO2. Randy Spock, Google’s head of carbon removal, emphasized the need to tackle both super-pollutants and long-term carbon removal.

The plan forecasts one million metric tonnes of methane-abatement credits by 2030 and an equal amount of carbon-removal credits by 2040, a scale tenfold larger than earlier projects. Google, which took an equity stake in Terradot in 2024, says the new model is cheaper than prior deals but still above the $100-per-tonne target. Terradot intends to pilot the approach in other rice-growing regions, including India and Vietnam, with commercial scale-up aimed for 2028.