Adding superpollutants to our portfolio
They’re potent and solvable, but underfunded. Philanthropy can change that.
Not all greenhouse gases are created equal.
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) lingers in the atmosphere, making permanent removal essential to stabilizing the climate. Superpollutants are faster-acting gases like methane (CH₄), refrigerants (hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs), and nitrous oxide (N₂O), which trap heat dozens or even thousands of times more potently than CO₂. Tackling both is essential to achieving our climate goals.
The good news: we know how to stop these superpollutants. We can cap leaking wells, recover and destroy refrigerants, and prevent emissions before they escape.
The bad news: almost no capital is flowing to fund this work.
Terraset is expanding into superpollutants.
Terraset was founded to prove that philanthropy can unlock hard-to-fund climate solutions. We started with carbon removal, and that remains a core pillar of our work. But the same catalytic approach applies to superpollutants.
This is not an either/or. Supporting superpollutants doesn’t mean any less commitment to scaling carbon removal. It means recognizing another overlooked frontier where early funding delivers rapid, verifiable results and helps build new markets for climate impact.
We continue to back emerging carbon removal methods like enhanced rock weathering, river alkalinity enhancement, biochar, and others. Together, these complementary pathways reflect the same throughline: catalytic philanthropy unlocks solutions markets won’t fund yet.
Superpollutants are the fastest way to slow warming in the next decade.
Superpollutants act quickly in the atmosphere and can’t be recaptured once emitted. Once they leak, we lose our chance to mitigate their impact. Cutting them today translates into measurable climate benefits within years, not decades.
So we’ve funded superpollutant removal and avoidance.
This summer, Terraset funded methane abatement and refrigerant destruction from two sector leaders: Tradewater and Recoolit.
Tradewater is tackling two of the biggest blind spots in climate action: orphaned methane wells and legacy refrigerants.
Orphaned wells leak methane, one of the most heat-trapping gases, while millions of tons of refrigerants banned decades ago still sit in tanks and appliances, slowly escaping.
Tradewater has proven it can collect and permanently destroy these gases—but without early buyers, many projects take years to complete. Funding from buyers like Terraset power their global scavenger hunt for emissions sources, turning proven mitigation into real, measurable climate relief.
Recoolit partners with A/C technicians to recover and destroy refrigerants before they are vented into the atmosphere.
Each ton destroyed avoids about 2,000 tons of CO₂-equivalent warming, delivering rapid climate relief in regions where cooling demand is rising fast. Their model also creates income for technicians and supports communities.
Recoolit’s recent agreement with Google shows growing buyer interest, but broader demand is still needed to reach scale. Our purchase serves as an early signal to help build that demand.
Expanding the frontier together.
Tradewater and Recoolit prove what’s possible when philanthropy moves first. With timely funding, urgent and solvable problems become investable opportunities.
Our role is to back the solutions that can’t wait for perfect markets or corporate demand. By funding both superpollutant mitigation and carbon removal, we’re closing the gap between what’s necessary and what’s funded, delivering immediate impact today while building durable climate infrastructure for tomorrow.
Your early support can eliminate the gases fueling the worst near-term warming. Donate today to scale what works.