Posted on 07/21/2025 7:58:44 AM PDT by Red Badger
Microsoft’s climate fix isn’t AI or trees, it’s flushing human sludge 5,000 feet underground.
The technique has been used for decades to handle industrial waste. Vaulted Deep
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Of all things, it’s human poop helping scrub AI’s carbon footprint clean.
In a bid to offset the soaring emissions from its artificial intelligence empire, Microsoft has signed a deal to bury 4.9 million metric tons of carbon by flushing a slurry of human and farm waste 5,000 feet underground.
The company announced the 12-year agreement with waste management firm Vaulted Deep on Thursday, turning sewage into a surprisingly lucrative climate solution.
Though hardly glamorous, the idea revolves around taking all the sludgy organic leftovers no one wants, including biosolids, manure, food waste, mixing them up, and injecting them into deep rock formations sealed off from the surface world.
Flushing away carbon guilt
For every ton of carbon locked away below, Microsoft earns a carbon removal credit. That means fewer emissions on its corporate books, and a cleaner image for an AI-fueled future that’s anything but carbon-light.
Vaulted Deep’s method may sound like something from a dystopian sci-fi script, but it’s already being used in cities like Los Angeles and Derby, Kansas.
And with Microsoft’s backing, the company is scaling up, which is proof enough that in today’s climate economy, even waste has value when it’s buried just right.
“As carbon removal moves beyond pilots and prototypes, there is growing demand for solutions that can scale safely and address real-world problems,” said Julia Reichelstein, co-founder and CEO of Vaulted Deep.
“Vaulted offers a dual solution: it meets urgent waste management needs and drives measurable climate and public health improvements. This agreement reflects a broader shift in how carbon removal is being deployed. It is no longer limited to emerging technologies but is increasingly delivered through large-scale existing infrastructure with novel applications.”
Big tech gets dirty
Microsoft, which emitted more than 75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide between 2020 and 2024, has been investing heavily in carbon removal to meet its goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.
By 2050, the company hopes to have erased all greenhouse gases it’s released since its founding. To date, it has acquired more than 83 million tons of carbon removal credits, making it one of the biggest buyers in the market.
But Vaulted Deep’s approach stands out in a crowded field of carbon removal startups pitching forests, fans, and futuristic filters.
Unlike tree-planting or direct air capture, both slow to scale, deep waste injection relies on infrastructure that already exists in parts of the U.S.
The technique has been used for decades to handle industrial waste. Vaulted simply repurposed it for sludgy organic material that would otherwise sit in landfills, leach into waterways, or release methane into the atmosphere.
For Microsoft, the appeal isn’t just in locking up carbon, it’s also in sidestepping public backlash tied to visible waste management problems.
“They’re essentially taking biosolids, and much of that today is spread over fields,” said Brian Marrs, Microsoft’s senior director of energy and carbon removal.
“It can create nutrient runoff and other pollutants for watersheds, and sealing out that biosolid where it can’t be a nuisance to the environment… that co-benefits approach is very, very interesting to us.”
Still, critics say burying waste isn’t a silver bullet. Environmental groups have long warned about the unknowns of deep-well injection, from groundwater contamination risks to long-term monitoring challenges.
For now, though, this unlikely partnership between Big Tech and big sludge may be exactly the kind of climate solution that feels inevitable.
Nah. But we sure could drill and produce it cheap.
So...Fracking = Bad, Fracking w/sewage = Good.
It’s one of those, “It sounded really good at the time.” ideas...............
there are other places who sell waste like this.
No surprise given their Indian CEO
God has quite the sense of humor. AI, Lord of the Flies, washing in poop, while God’s children are washed in the pure water of the Lord. LOL.
I’ve looked into them. Morganite is one example.
The raw waste is typically free or the “recipient” is paid a small fee. They then process it to remove metals and harmful bacteria and then it can be marketed.
I have lots and lots of very arid, well drained, land.
So I skip the middle man and let them dump raw poop on the pasture. Mother Earth processes the bacteria (which can’t persist too long), hormones, and everything else.
Time, bugs, growing plants, then scorching heat takes care of it.
And then, voila, fantastic crop land.
Where it turns bad is when people get in a hurry and try to plant crops at the same time. Mexico does this.
There is always at least 5 years and two crops of hay between when I use it for human food. (Not counting cows that eat hay.)
Isn’t poop mostly carbon H2O and nitrogen?
....and corn.................
Putting it where the sun don’t shine. Not a good idea in my opinion. I would think there would be a considerable risk of contamination to deep aquifers. Where are the slew of environmental impact studies that should be done before pumping poop?
do they have to give back the carbon credits when that happens?
Someone with more lyrical talent than me should write it up, to the tune of Marty Robbins' "Big Iron".
WHEN YOU HAVE TONS OF MONEY LIKE MICROSOFT, THOSE THINGS ARE IRRELEVENT...............
Imagine sitting on a 14 hour flight to Hawaii, and having your Sanitation Engineer Seatmate describe his ‘exciting’ new job to you in minute detail.
He loves his new job, would like to shout it from the rooftops!! But you, stuck in your window seat, will do for now. “Allow me to walk you through the process. It’s rather fascinating!”
Or Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John”..................
The best sewage disposal is the city of Milwaukee and the Milorganite Company. It's processed, de-wetted, furnace sterilized into granular bits, bagged, and sold as fertilizer. It's the best fertilizer around for lawns, flower beds, golf courses, hay fields, and such.
The product is so good that the city sewage generates a profit. Milorganite has been in operation for at least 50 years. I'm not quite sure why it's not done in other municipalities?
The best sewage disposal is the city of Milwaukee and the Milorganite Company. It's processed, de-wetted, furnace sterilized into granular bits, bagged, and sold as fertilizer. It's the best fertilizer around for lawns, flower beds, golf courses, hay fields, and such.
The product is so good that the city sewage generates a profit. Milorganite has been in operation for at least 50 years. I'm not quite sure why it's not done in other municipalities?
Milorganite, the brand that made Milwaukee famous!.................
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