Google has committed to buy carbon offsets from a new landfill gas project near one of its data centers in South Carolina.

 

The search firm has signed a signed an agreement with Berkeley County Water & Sanitation (BCWS), carbon offset company Blue Source and local utility Santee Cooper to purchase all of the carbon offsets under by the Berkeley Green Power Project over the next three years, Business Green reports. 

 

The project will use special wells to capture the methane in landfill, which is 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. It will then be piped to Santee Cooper's new green generating station where it will be used to generate an estimated 3MW of electricity.

 

Google says it chooses renewable energy projects based on two primary factors: that emission reductions would not have occurred without carbon financing; and that emission reductions can be verified to a recognized standard.

 

The offsets will cover an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes of carbon.