• Google agrees to purchase 3,500 tons of carbon removal from Ebb as part of an early market commitment to ocean alkalinity enhancement.
• Partnership builds on Ebb’s work with the Saudi Water Authority, which could enable up to 85 million tonnes of annual CO2 removal capacity through integration with desalination systems.
• New R&D with Alphabet’s X explores cost negative carbon sequestration through acid reutilization and circular concrete recycling.

California and Riyadh Shape the Backdrop for a New Carbon Removal Strategy

Ebb, the climate and water technology firm founded by former Alphabet innovators, has secured a prepurchase agreement from Google for 3,500 tons of carbon dioxide removal. The agreement gives Google early access to a pathway viewed by scientists and investors as one of the few potentially gigaton scale solutions: ocean alkalinity enhancement delivered through desalination infrastructure.

The deal lands shortly after Ebb formalized a partnership with the Saudi Water Authority to incorporate the company’s electrochemical system across desalination facilities in the country. If fully deployed, the integration could enable up to 85 million tonnes of annual CO2 removal. The combined momentum highlights how corporate procurement, sovereign infrastructure, and emerging science are converging around ocean based approaches to durable carbon sequestration.

Leveraging Desalination Infrastructure for Scale and Cost Efficiency

Ebb’s technology accelerates a natural chemical process in seawater that converts atmospheric CO2 into stable bicarbonate, which the ocean can store for thousands of years. The ocean has already locked away around 30 percent of all human emitted CO2 since the industrial era. By tapping this natural reservoir and coupling it with an industrial footprint that already processes hundreds of millions of tonnes of seawater each day, Ebb aims to reduce both cost and deployment barriers.

The company’s modular system intercepts the brine discharge stream from desalination plants and processes it through an electrochemical unit. The resulting alkaline solution is returned to the ocean, where it draws down CO2 from the atmosphere. The process also raises freshwater yield and produces chemical coproducts that can be reused within desalination operations or sold to external industries.

Ebb argues that this alignment of climate benefit with operational efficiency is central to its value proposition. “We’re thrilled to work with Google to scale low cost carbon removal with Ebb’s technology,” said Ben Tarbell, CEO of Ebb. He added that the ocean’s natural systems offer a rapidly scalable route to meaningful carbon removal. “By integrating our technology with desalination facilities, we’re transforming what has historically been a waste stream into a climate solution. Perhaps most importantly, Ebb’s technology can support our desalination partners’ core business through additional freshwater recovery, energy savings, and valuable chemical co products. Our ability to remove CO2 at scale becomes the natural outcome of smart business decisions.”

With global desalination capacity expanding, the company maintains there is sufficient existing infrastructure to support billions of tonnes of annual carbon removal if ocean alkalinity systems reach maturity.

Alphabet’s X Explores a Circular Use Case for Ebb’s Acid Coproduct

Ebb’s progress is also tied to experimental work underway with Alphabet subsidiary X, the Moonshot Factory. The collaboration focuses on how to use the acid coproduct from Ebb’s process. X has developed a method for using this type of acid to recycle concrete waste. If viable at scale, the approach could support roughly 100 million tonnes of CO2 removal annually through ocean alkalinity enhancement while also establishing a circular material flow for the construction sector.

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“Combining Ebb’s electrochemical approach to ocean alkalinity enhancement with X’s acid utilization technology has the rare potential for cost negative carbon sequestration,” said Antonio Papania Davis, Project Lead at X. “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.”

John Platt, Google Climate and Science Fellow, said the science and economics could shift meaningfully if low cost pathways emerge. “The possibility of highly affordable carbon dioxide removal is extremely exciting. The combination of ideas from Ebb and X are the kind of creative thinking that we need to solve the climate crisis.”

What C Suite and Investors Should Watch

Corporate buyers continue to shape early markets for engineered and hybrid carbon removal. Google’s decision to procure capacity at an early stage, paired with its internal research collaboration through X, indicates a deliberate strategy to lower future cost curves and build supplier diversity.

For policymakers and investors, the intersection with desalination infrastructure is likely to attract attention. Water stress is rising across many regions, capital is flowing into new desalination capacity, and governments are exploring dual purpose infrastructure that can deliver both climate and water security benefits. Ebb’s model sits at this nexus. The company’s founders, Ben Tarbell and Matt Eisaman, previously led climate initiatives at Alphabet before launching Ebb in 2021, giving the partnership a technical and strategic continuity.

A Global Market Sets Its Pace

As countries evaluate credible pathways toward carbon removal targets linked to Paris Agreement alignment, the search for scalable solutions is intensifying. Ocean alkalinity remains under active scientific scrutiny, yet is increasingly seen as a candidate capable of matching the scale of the challenge if technical, ecological, and regulatory frameworks converge.

The Google and Ebb agreement adds another signal of intent from the technology sector, while the Saudi Water Authority partnership provides a test bed at national infrastructure scale. Taken together, they capture a shift toward climate solutions embedded within real economy systems, tying emissions reduction directly to water security, resource efficiency, and circular material flows across global markets.

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