Google has agreed to purchase 3,500 tons of carbon removal credits from ocean-based carbon removal company Ebb Carbon, deepening its involvement in emerging climate technologies that leverage the natural chemistry of seawater. The carbon removal will be delivered from a desalination project in Saudi Arabia, where Ebb will deploy its electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement system. As technology companies race to secure high-quality carbon removal pathways, the collaboration raises an important question about whether ocean-based solutions can scale quickly enough to deliver meaningful global impact.

A Technology Built to Accelerate the Ocean’s Natural Carbon Storage Capacity

Ebb Carbon, founded in 2021 by former leaders from Tesla, SolarCity and Google X, focuses on improving the ocean’s ability to absorb and store atmospheric CO2. The company’s electrochemical approach separates seawater into acidic and alkaline streams. The alkaline portion is returned to the ocean, where it mimics the natural alkalinization process, converting dissolved CO2 into stable bicarbonate ions. This reaction increases the ocean’s buffering capacity and enables greater CO2 absorption from the atmosphere. Because increasing ocean acidity is a major threat to marine ecosystems, Ebb’s process carries dual benefits: capturing carbon and improving the resilience of coastal waters.

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Integrating Carbon Removal Directly into the World’s Largest Desalination Network

The agreement with Google comes as Ebb launches a major partnership with the Saudi Water Authority, the world’s largest operator of desalination infrastructure. Instead of releasing concentrated brine back into the ocean, Ebb’s modular system intercepts this waste stream and converts it into several useful outputs. The process can produce a lower salinity solution that can be cycled back into SWA operations to generate additional freshwater, chemical by-products with industrial uses and an alkaline solution capable of removing atmospheric carbon when returned to the ocean. According to Ebb, deploying this technology across SWA’s entire network could remove up to 85 megatonnes of CO2 per year while simultaneously improving water output and reducing operating costs by piggybacking on existing infrastructure.

Turning Waste Streams Into Climate and Commercial Value

Ebb’s leadership emphasises that the integration of ocean alkalinity enhancement into desalination facilities transforms what has traditionally been an environmental challenge into a climate opportunity. CEO Ben Tarbell explained that the ocean’s natural systems offer one of the most scalable pathways for carbon removal and that Ebb’s technology adds additional business value for desalination operators through energy savings, increased water recovery and the production of valuable chemicals. The Google offtake agreement will draw exclusively from the SWA partnership, ensuring that carbon removal has both scientific measurability and infrastructure support. With desalination continuing to expand globally, the model could offer an increasingly efficient route for coastal regions seeking both water security and climate mitigation.

Exploring New Circular Economy Applications for Ebb’s Co-Products

Beyond carbon removal credits, Ebb and Google are also collaborating through X, Google’s internal innovation arm. One area of investigation is how the acid generated as a by-product of Ebb’s process can be repurposed using technologies developed at X to recycle concrete waste. Early results indicate the potential to convert Ebb’s acid stream into a feedstock that helps break down and repurpose used concrete, a step that could support circularity in construction materials and reduce emissions associated with cement production. X project lead Antonio Papania Davis noted that combining Ebb’s approach with X’s recycling technology could even deliver cost-negative carbon removal by turning waste into a viable source of revenue.

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A New Frontier for Technology-Enabled Ocean Carbon Removal

The partnership between Google, Ebb Carbon and the Saudi Water Authority represents an emerging model where climate technologies integrate into existing industrial systems rather than operating as standalone facilities. If successful, this approach could accelerate deployment while lowering costs, helping the ocean play a more prominent role in global carbon removal strategies. As more companies seek scientifically credible climate solutions, the industry will be watching whether this collaboration can demonstrate reliable measurement, verifiable impact and long term scalability.

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