• Microsoft will purchase up to 23,602 metric tons of durable carbon removal from CREW Carbon.
• CREW Carbon’s technology integrates with existing wastewater treatment infrastructure and converts atmospheric CO2 into stable bicarbonates.
• The agreement expands Microsoft’s carbon removal portfolio as it pursues its goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.

Microsoft has signed a long-term carbon removal agreement with CREW Carbon, backing a technology that uses wastewater treatment systems to permanently store atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The agreement covers up to 23,602 metric tons of durable carbon removal. CREW Carbon generates the removals through its wastewater alkalinity enhancement technology.

The process adjusts water chemistry inside wastewater treatment facilities. This increases the system’s ability to absorb atmospheric CO2 and convert it into stable dissolved bicarbonates.

CREW Carbon says the technology can also improve wastewater treatment operations. That gives the approach an operational benefit alongside its climate value.

For Microsoft, the agreement adds another removal method to a growing portfolio of technologies supporting its carbon strategy. The company aims to become carbon negative by 2030.

Wastewater infrastructure becomes a carbon asset

Many emerging carbon removal technologies require purpose-built facilities and significant new infrastructure.

CREW Carbon is pursuing a different model.

Its system is designed to integrate with wastewater treatment plants that already operate at scale. The technology enhances naturally occurring chemical processes within those facilities.

Atmospheric CO2 is converted into dissolved bicarbonates, which can provide durable carbon storage. The approach therefore uses existing water infrastructure as part of the carbon removal process.

This could matter for the economics of deployment.

Carbon removal projects often face high capital costs during early commercialization. Technologies that can use existing industrial assets may reduce some infrastructure requirements.

They may also create additional incentives for plant operators if the systems deliver operational improvements.

The Microsoft agreement provides CREW Carbon with a long-term commercial buyer as it works to expand deployment.

“The deal with Microsoft “further validates our approach to delivering high-quality, durable carbon credits while we optimize wastewater treatment performance,” said Dr. Joachim Katchinoff, CEO and co-founder of CREW Carbon.

Long-term contracts support commercialization

Corporate offtake agreements have become an important financing tool for emerging carbon removal companies.

They provide developers with future revenue commitments before technologies reach significant commercial scale. That can help projects secure investment, build facilities and demonstrate demand.

CREW Carbon previously secured a $32 million offtake agreement facilitated by Frontier in December 2024.

The company has said that long-term contracts are critical for financing deployment. They can also help demonstrate the commercial viability of newer carbon removal pathways.

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Microsoft has become a major buyer across the durable carbon removal market. Its purchasing strategy uses long-term agreements to support technologies that can potentially scale over time.

The CREW Carbon agreement broadens that portfolio further by introducing wastewater alkalinity enhancement into the mix.

That diversification is increasingly relevant for corporate carbon strategies.

No single carbon removal technology has yet demonstrated the scale needed to address projected long-term demand. Buyers are therefore spreading purchases across different methods, durability profiles and infrastructure models.

What executives and investors should watch

The agreement highlights the growing connection between carbon markets and existing industrial infrastructure.

For wastewater operators, carbon removal could eventually create new revenue opportunities alongside traditional treatment services. However, projects will still depend on rigorous measurement, reporting and verification.

Those standards will be critical as buyers assess whether removals are genuinely additional and durable.

For investors, the commercial question extends beyond technical performance. Companies must also prove that projects can be financed, deployed repeatedly and verified at reasonable cost.

Large corporate buyers can help address part of that challenge.

Long-term agreements provide early demand while developers improve technology and reduce costs. They also shift some market risk away from projects during the commercialization phase.

Microsoft’s latest purchase shows how corporate climate commitments are increasingly influencing infrastructure innovation well beyond the technology sector.

If wastewater-based carbon removal can move from early projects into broader deployment, treatment plants could become part of a more distributed carbon removal network.

That would add another pathway to a market still searching for technologies capable of delivering durable removals at meaningful scale.