The minute
- Exomad Green and Carbonfuture expanded their partnership to include more than 1.1 million tonnes of biochar carbon removal supply available through 2035, on top of 1.2 million tonnes already contracted under existing multi-year agreements.
- Global biochar sales nearly doubled year over year in H1 2026, reaching 2.99 million tonnes, while spot-market volume fell 54% to 81,000 tonnes, according to Supercritical data.
- The International Biochar Initiative estimates global biochar production reached 520,810 metric tonnes in 2025, up from 180,150 tonnes in 2023, and projects 3.5 million tonnes by 2027.
Why it matters: The biochar carbon removal market is consolidating around a small number of suppliers that can demonstrate verified delivery at scale. By July 2026, 81% of high-quality biochar supply had already been committed through offtakes, and Supercritical reports that only 13 out of more than 400 biochar projects it evaluated passed its quality assessment. This concentration of demand on a narrow supply base is reshaping pricing dynamics and contract structures across the voluntary carbon market.
Who wins and who loses as biochar moves to long-term contracts
The shift from spot purchases to multi-year offtake agreements creates clear winners and losers. Producers with established delivery records, verified methodologies and secured feedstock gain pricing power and revenue visibility. Exomad Green, which has delivered more than 400,000 tonnes of durable carbon removal according to CDR.fyi data, now has contracted volume extending through 2035. For buyers like Microsoft, Swiss Re and members of the First Movers Coalition (all listed as Carbonfuture customers or partners), locking in supply early reduces the risk of facing a shortage of verified tonnes later.
The losing side includes smaller or newer biochar producers that lack delivery track records. With corporate procurement teams prioritizing execution over capacity plans, projects still in development face a harder path to securing buyers. The 54% drop in spot-market volume suggests that occasional or uncontracted sellers are being squeezed out. Intermediaries that relied on aggregating spot credits also face margin pressure as large buyers contract directly with established producers.
What remains undecided in the biochar market
Several structural questions remain open. First, whether production growth can match contracted volumes. The International Biochar Initiative projects 9.3 million tonnes of global production by 2030, but actual delivery depends on feedstock availability, permitting and infrastructure buildout in specific regions. South America ranked as the third-largest producing region in 2025, and Bolivia (where Exomad Green operates) is expanding capacity, but the gap between announced projects and projects that meet stringent buyer requirements remains wide.
Second, the relationship between biochar carbon removal credits and compliance carbon markets is still undefined in most jurisdictions. Biochar credits currently trade in the voluntary market under standards like Puro Standard, but whether regulators will recognize biochar removals for compliance obligations will determine the next phase of demand growth. Third, permanence accounting (how long carbon stored in biochar is credited for) varies across certification methodologies, and no global consensus has emerged on harmonizing these calculations.
The deal between Exomad Green and Carbonfuture reflects a market that is maturing rapidly but still faces supply-side bottlenecks and regulatory uncertainty. For corporate buyers evaluating carbon removal portfolios, the key variable is no longer whether biochar works as a removal pathway, but whether enough verified supply exists to meet escalating procurement targets.
There is no newsletter yet. Leave your email and you will hear first on the day there is one.