Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, speaks during a climate initiative event at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, on Thursday, January 16th, 2020. | Photo: Getty Images
Microsoft is doubling down on a controversial plan to capture carbon dioxide emissions from wood-burning power plants. It announced a contract with energy company Stockholm Exergi to capture 3.33 million metric tons of carbon emissions from a biomass power plant in the Swedish capital in what is potentially the biggest deal of its kind to date — equivalent to taking more than 790,000 gas-powered cars off the road for a year.
It’s supposed to help Microsoft meet its goal of capturing more planet-heating carbon dioxide than it produces as a company by 2030 and then removing as much CO2 from the atmosphere as it has ever emitted since its founding by 2050.
But the jury is still out on whether wood-burning power plants actually help fight…