Behind Google & Ebb's 3,500-Tonne Carbon Removal Project

Google has signed a prepurchase agreement with climate technology firm Ebb Carbon to remove 3,500 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere through ocean alkalinity enhancement.

The deal aims to support emerging carbon removal pathways and comes weeks after Ebb announced a partnership with the Saudi Water Authority to deploy its electrochemical system across desalination facilities in Saudi Arabia.

That Saudi deployment, at facilities processing hundreds of millions of tonnes of seawater daily, will generate the carbon removals needed to fulfil Google's purchase order.

At full deployment across the Saudi Water Authority's network, the partnership could enable up to 85 million tonnes of annual CO₂ removal capacity.

Randy Spock, Senior Director of Climate and Nature at Google, says: "Google's new carbon removal deal with Ebb Carbon aims to remove a few thousand tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere - but more importantly, will help them pilot a new approach that could transform the economics of deacidifying the ocean.

"If it works, this circular approach could turn Ebb's waste product from a cost centre to a profit centre – a big potential win for unleashing affordable durable carbon removal at scale."

A new way of processing waste streams

Ebb's approach intercepts brine discharge from desalination plants before it returns to the ocean.

The waste stream, which globally totals more than 100 million tonnes daily, is processed through an electrochemical system that converts it into an alkaline solution.

When returned to the ocean, this solution draws down atmospheric CO₂ and stores it as stable bicarbonate for thousands of years.

"We're thrilled to work with Google to scale low-cost carbon removal with Ebb's technology," explains Ben Tarbell, CEO of Ebb Carbon.

"The natural systems in the ocean represent the most powerful and rapidly scalable path to meaningful carbon removal."

A multi-faceted project

Beyond carbon removal, Ebb's system creates additional value for desalination operators through increased freshwater yield and chemical co-products that can be reused in desalination processes or sold to external industries.

Ben sees this multi-product approach as critical to the project's viability.

"Perhaps most importantly, Ebb's technology can support our desalination partners' core business through additional freshwater recovery, energy savings and valuable chemical co-products," he says.

"Our ability to remove CO₂ at scale becomes the natural outcome of smart business decisions – a powerful financial incentive that will drive expansion of our technology."

The company estimates existing global desalination infrastructure could support billions of tonnes of carbon removal annually.

What is acid utilisation?

Ebb has also been working with X, the Moonshot Factory, an Alphabet subsidiary, to develop applications for the acid co-product generated by its ocean alkalinity enhancement process.

X has developed technology that uses this type of acid to recycle concrete waste, potentially supporting approximately 100 million tonnes of annual CO₂ removal whilst creating a circular material flow for the construction sector.

"Combining Ebb's electrochemical approach to ocean alkalinity enhancement with X's acid utilisation technology has the rare potential for cost-negative carbon sequestration," says Antonio Papania-Davis, the Project Lead at X, the Moonshot Factory.

"It's rare for waste streams to become revenue streams and we hope our research provides the industry with a blueprint for harvesting this untapped value."

Reilly O'Hara, Carbon Removal Lead at Google, sees the deacidification of the ocean as just as important as the carbon removal aspect of the project

"This offtake for 3,500 tonnes will help accelerate Ebb's efforts to deliver carbon removal alongside the important additional benefit of deacidifying the ocean," says Reilly.

"Ebb's technology accelerates the natural process of ocean alkalinisation - where the ocean draws down CO₂ from the atmosphere by reducing the acidity of the seawater."

Ebb's history with Google

This collaboration builds on existing ties between the organisations.

Ben and Ebb's Co-Founder Dr Matthew Eisaman, who passed away after Ebb's founding in 2021, both previously led climate and carbon removal initiatives within Alphabet before launching the company.

The Saudi partnership positions the country as a potential hub for ocean-based carbon removal, with the Gulf region accounting for 60% of global desalination capacity.

Saudi Arabia operates 22% of global desalination infrastructure, making it the world's largest desalination operator.

For Ebb, the Google agreement validates its thesis that scaling carbon removal requires leveraging existing industrial infrastructure rather than building entirely new facilities.

The 3,500-tonne commitment follows a 350,000-tonne removal deal Ebb signed with Microsoft in 2024, expected to be delivered over ten years.