Microsoft Signs Deal to Buy 315,000 Tons of Carbon Removal

Microsoft signed a multi-year agreement to purchase up to 315,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal from Direct Air Capture company Heirloom, one of the largest such deals to date. The transaction signals maturing corporate demand for durable carbon removal, relevant to Indian companies weighing high-quality removal in net-zero strategies.

Microsoft signed a multi-year agreement to procure up to 315,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal from Heirloom, a Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, in one of the largest carbon removal deals to date. The agreement follows Heirloom's DAC Hub selection by the US Department of Energy, with up to $600 million in potential matching funding; its Project Cypress in southwestern Louisiana secured one of the highest funding levels. Heirloom's technology uses limestone to extract and store CO2, including within concrete.

The deal affects the emerging carbon-removal market, providing project finance that enables Heirloom to build new DAC facilities and scale toward gigaton-level capacity. It supports Microsoft's target to become carbon negative by 2030, of which the agreement is a fundamental component. Corporate buyers worldwide, including Indian firms structuring net-zero pathways, should note the precedent of bankable, large-scale removal contracts, which underscore growing willingness to invest in high-quality durable removal alongside renewable energy and efficiency measures.

Companies building net-zero strategies should monitor the maturing market for high-quality, permanent carbon removal that bankable agreements of this magnitude are catalyzing. Buyers should track DAC cost trajectories as project finance enables exponential scale-up, comparable to renewable-energy industry growth. Indian corporates assessing removal credits should evaluate durability and verification, given Microsoft's stated path to carbon negativity by 2030 and Heirloom's positioning of limestone-based DAC as a cost-effective, scalable approach aligned with Paris Agreement goals.

Key figure — Carbon removal purchased: up to 315,000 metric tons; DOE matching funding: up to $600 million