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Finance and Project Development

Luisa Marin Lauren Boritzke Smith Sofía Farías + 10 Members

From pilots to infrastructure, and how we’re processing it all

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Finance and Project Development logoFinance and Project Development
 Sofía Farías
Sofía Farías
2 March 2026 at 6:03 pm

From pilots to infrastructure, and how we’re processing it all

This month I realized I hadn’t posted anything here in a while.
Not because there was nothing happening, actually quite the opposite.

Between everything happening globally, professionally, and personally, I’ve felt a bit saturated. And when I reviewed our latest Industrial Round Up (our quarterly summary of key global biochar developments for Corporate Members) and the Intelligence Market Brief, it reinforced that feeling.

There is a lot moving! And much of it signals something important for project developers, investors, and operators alike.

Looking back at Q4 2025, one theme stood out clearly:

We are no longer mostly talking about pilots.

We are seeing:

  • Expansion of mid to large scale facilities across Europe, America, and Asia
  • Biochar integration into harder to abate sectors like steel, infrastructure materials, and even data center linked energy systems
  • A stronger emphasis on operational maturity, MRV integration, and commercial viability

From biocarbon replacing coal in steelmaking, to verified CDR embedded in digital infrastructure, to residue integrated agricultural models. The ecosystem feels different than it did even 2–3 years ago: more industrial, more integrated, more serious, and more capital intensive and infrastructure driven.

And yet, here’s what I’ve been sitting with:

As the sector scales and professionalizes, how are we processing this shift?
Are we:

  • Reacting to momentum?
  • Strategically positioning?
  • Feeling pressure to accelerate?
  • Or cautiously observing where capital and standards are consolidating?

Scaling brings credibility, but also complexity.

I’m currently preparing the Q1 2026 Industrial Round Up, and I’d genuinely love to hear from the broader community:

What feels most significant to you right now in the biochar space?

Is it industrial integration?
Standards and MRV?
Capital flows?
Regional deployment?
Something else entirely?

And more personally, does it feel energizing, overwhelming, uncertain?

I’m curious how you’re experiencing this moment!

2
2

  • Luisa Marin

    8 March 2026 at 11:10 am

    Interesting reflection. I had a similar impression last week at the Global Biochar Commercialisation Summit in London.

    Across discussions with project developers, technology providers, investors, registries, and buyers, one point kept coming up.

    It is not the individual parts of the process that matter most. Not the reactor alone. Not the feedstock supply. Not the energy integration. Not the carbon pathway. Not the buyers or the financing structure.

    Biochar projects work when the whole system works.

    Many conversations focused on how projects combine several revenue streams:

    • Biochar as a soil product
    • Biochar carbon removals
    • Energy recovery from pyrolysis
    • Long term biomass supply
    • Bankable project structures

    Energy integration also came up repeatedly. Pyrolysis produces heat and gas, and sometimes electricity. Using that energy well often improves plant economics and reduces waste.

    Policy signals are also beginning to shape expectations. The EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework and discussions in the UK raise the possibility that biochar removals could eventually interact with compliance markets, not only voluntary markets.

    Your observation about moving from pilots to infrastructure feels accurate. But it also means the bar is higher. Technology alone is no longer enough…Projects need credible carbon accounting, stable biomass supply, clear revenue models, and investors who understand the full system.

    The sector feels more serious now. More industrial. More capital intensive.

    But the real test remains the same. Can projects operate reliably and make economic sense over time?

    • Sofía Farías

      20 March 2026 at 6:14 pm

      Hi Luisa, this really resonates with me, especially the idea that it’s not any single component, but how the whole system comes together.

      That’s where the shift becomes most visible. Moving from pilots to infrastructure doesn’t just scale individual elements, it requires everything to work together at once (technically, commercially, and operationally).

      The point about multiple revenue streams really stood out too. Projects are now being assessed as integrated systems that need to balance carbon, product, energy, and financing all at once, which helps explain why the bar is getting higher! At the same time, that’s also one of the strengths of biochar, the need to think holistically and make use of multiple value streams.

      Thank you for sharing your observations from the summit!

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Exchange strategies and insights on financing, scaling, and managing successful biochar projects around the world.

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Exchange strategies and insights on financing, scaling, and managing successful biochar projects around the world.