Sustainable solutions: offsetting our carbon footprint with enhanced rock weathering

At Raspberry Pi, our approach to sustainability mirrors our approach to engineering computers: we look for the most effective solutions at the best price point. This extends to our environmental impact, which is why we’re proud to be using enhanced rock weathering (ERW) technology to offset the carbon footprint of our single-board computers.

Enhanced rock weathering offers a nature-based approach to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂); it does this by significantly accelerating the Earth’s natural silicate weathering process. This geological process typically occurs over thousands of years as rainwater, slightly acidic from dissolved atmospheric CO₂, reacts with silicate rocks. During this reaction, CO₂ is chemically locked away in stable forms like carbonates and bicarbonates before eventually flowing into oceans or forming mineral deposits on land, effectively removing it from the atmosphere.

How we UNDO our carbon emissions

Earlier this year, we partnered with UK-based climate science company UNDO Carbon, pioneers of enhanced rock weathering technology. UNDO’s ERW solution involves spreading finely crushed silicate rock, such as wollastonite, across agricultural land. By increasing the surface area of the rock through crushing and then integrating it into active agricultural soils, the rate of chemical reaction with atmospheric CO₂ is greatly enhanced. This method not only sequesters atmospheric CO₂, but also offers additional agricultural benefits by boosting soil health and crop yields.

“Working with forward-thinking organisations like Raspberry Pi is incredibly important to us,” says Chris Zair, Head of Partnerships at UNDO. “It demonstrates a shared vision for a sustainable future and helps us to scale our efforts in removing carbon for good.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that, if scaled, ERW could remove up to 4 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, achieving a very substantial 40% of CO₂ removal targets. UNDO’s operational model takes advantage of existing infrastructure, enabling the company to scale its operations quickly and offer carbon removal at competitive prices. As UNDO’s model leverages existing infrastructure and the rock is spread locally, its operations boast a carbon efficiency greater than 90%.

Silicate rocks are the most abundant on Earth, meaning ERW has the potential to rapidly scale and permanently remove billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year

UNDO’s recent success in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition is a testament to their scientific rigour and the potential scalability of their ERW technology. This four-year, $100-million initiative is the largest incentive in prize history, designed to encourage the development of more scalable, durable, and sustainable CO₂ removal solutions. From a field of over 1300 applicants from 88 countries, UNDO emerged as third-place runners-up, securing a $5 million share of the prize.

The finalists were challenged to remove over 1000 net tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere. Independent verification bodies confirmed that UNDO successfully removed 1209 tonnes of CO₂ as part of their operations in Canada, where they used fast-weathering wollastonite. Jim Mann, founder and CEO of UNDO, highlighted the win as a powerful validation of their scientific approach and massively scalable operational model. The prize money will further enable UNDO’s research and development, helping to reduce the cost of carbon removal and make their solution even more accessible.

We released our Carbon Removal Credits alongside the 16GB variant of Raspberry Pi 5 earlier this year

Investing in a greener future

By partnering with UNDO Carbon and embracing ERW, Raspberry Pi is making an active commitment to innovative and effective sustainability practices. Each Raspberry Pi Carbon Removal Credit contributes to UNDO’s carbon removal work, which, over time, will help to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere; once verified, each credit will offset the manufacture, shipping, and disposal of one of our single-board computers, allowing you to contribute directly to these impactful carbon removal efforts. We take our responsibility to look after the planet seriously, so we’re not just talking about a greener future; we’re actively investing in and supporting the technologies that can make it a reality.

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