Image credit: Carbo Culture
Helsinki, Finland, 10 February, 2021 – Pioneering Finnish biotech startup Carbo Culture and leading carbon project developer and climate solutions provider South Pole have teamed up to catalyze funding to a critical carbon removals climate technology. This partnership allows companies to support the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by investing in premium biochar, a product that straddles a technological and a nature-based solution, using carbon removal credits.
“We believe our biochar is a gamechanger in helping us mitigate climate change. It is safe, accessible and cost-effective – and has the potential to scale up fast," says Henrietta Moon, CEO and Co-Founder of Carbo Culture. “Partnering with a global expert like South Pole on financing our carbon removal technology is a validation of the nascent biochar market. Just cutting emissions is no longer enough to avert a climate disaster, we must start investing in such ambitious, frontier technologies today."
“Companies with ambitious Net Zero targets must take advantage of innovative solutions at their disposal today – such as smart removal technologies to neutralise emissions in the long run. And perhaps scaling biochar production is one of the most obvious answers to fighting climate change?" says Michael Weber, Director of Corporate Climate Neutrality at South Pole. “We are incredibly excited to partner with Carbo Culture to help them scale up their premium biochar production, and make new carbon removal solutions available to our clients."
Carbo Culture is a biotech company commercialising a breakthrough technology in carbon removals, turning biomass waste into stable biocarbon that doesn't decompose or re-enter the atmosphere for 1,000 years. Each ton of Carbo Culture's biochar contains 3.2 tons of CO2 in a solid, safe form. These biocarbons are uniquely suited for a range of traditional and emerging environmental remediation applications, resulting in biological co-benefits – such as increasing fertility and crop growth when incorporated into the soil – and emissions avoidance.
The Carbo Culture biochar production is certified by carbon removal standard Puro.earth, the first voluntary carbon removal marketplace for businesses. Carbon removals are verified and measured by an independent third party and turned into CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs). In simple terms, one Puro.earth CORC corresponds to one ton of verified CO2 removals.
The need for cost-effective carbon removal solutions is urgent. To avert the worst effects of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that nations may need to remove up to 1000 Gt of CO2 by 2050. For ambitious companies with Net Zero commitments, carbon removal solutions are valuable.
Biochar falls under carbon removals. The biochar industry as a whole has an estimated carbon sequestration potential of up to two gigatons (Gt) of carbon annually – which is double the annual CO2 emissions of Germany. To put that into perspective, global energy-related CO2 emissions were 33 Gt in 2019.
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Isabel Hagbrink, Director of Communications, South Pole
South Pole is a leading project developer and provider of global climate solutions, with around 400 experts in 18 offices worldwide. South Pole helps companies, capital markets, and governments reduce their impact on the climate while mitigating risk and creating value. Its expertise covers project finance, climate risk analysis, and the development of environmental commodities, like carbon and renewable energy credits. South Pole has mobilised climate finance to over 700 projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable land use. For more information, visit www.southpole.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
