Google Seals Largest Rice Methane Carbon Credit Deal

Google has agreed to buy 1 million carbon credits from Mitti Labs through 2030, the largest publicly announced purchase of credits generated by cutting methane from rice cultivation. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Drones surveying Indian rice paddies, supporting sustainable farming methods that cut methane emissions and reduce water consumption. AI generated picture.

The four-year offtake covers smallholder rice farms across the Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, reaching more than 100,000 hectares at peak. More than 70,000 farmers are expected to adopt alternate wetting and drying (AWD), an irrigation method that drains paddies periodically rather than holding them under continuous flood. The practice cuts methane emissions by around 50% and water use by nearly 40% without lowering yields.

Mitti Labs estimates the programme will reduce methane emissions equivalent to 3 million tonnes of CO₂ on a 20-year basis (GWP20), or 1 million tonnes on a 100-year basis (GWP100), and unlock 1.5 trillion litres of water savings across Indian watersheds by 2030.

Credit integrity rests on measurement. Mitti Labs runs a digital measurement, reporting, and verification (dMRV) system, a GeoAI platform combining satellite data with ground readings. It measures emissions directly in closed field chambers and installs purpose-built AWD pipes on every field, a more expensive route than the default emission factors common in rice methodologies. Its flagship Telangana project, registered under Gold Standard, holds an A rating from Sylvera. The company has filed a further project under the Isometric standard and last month raised $9.5 million in a Series A led by Aramco Ventures.

The purchase deepens Google’s carbon commitments as its emissions climb alongside its artificial-intelligence build-out. The company signed 16 carbon credit deals worth more than $100 million in 2025, covering roughly 600,000 tonnes, and reported a contracted portfolio of more than 1.388 million tonnes at year-end. Its 2025 emissions reached 14.5 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, up 18% year on year, and it aims to reach net zero by 2030 by halving emissions from 2019 levels and using carbon dioxide removal for the balance.