Empowering the Global South with Biochar Carbon Removal

PyroCCS, a ClimateTech startup based in Germany, is working to improve access to biochar with a focus on the Global South. The basis for the company started with a few simple truths. 

First, a healthy planet needs healthy soil. Without it, ecosystems struggle to support life and the planet loses an important mechanism for the removal of carbon from the atmosphere: plant life. 

Second, biochar is a proven carbon removal technology that’s capable of taking up as much as 6% of current global greenhouse gas emissions annually. 

And finally, carbon removal efforts like biochar can not only help mitigate global climate change, they can also bring significant financial, environmental, and societal benefits to those living in the Global South who are disproportionately experiencing the negative effects of climate change. 

After successfully participating in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Competition, the founders of PyroCCS were inspired to build an organization they hope can increase biochar accessibility in the Global South and scale its use worldwide. Nearly 3 years in, the team has proven they can have a positive impact through projects in Namibia and India, and they have an exciting roadmap for the future.  

Beating Around the Bush

All ecosystems need balance and in the case of African savannahs like those found in Namibia, that balance is in danger as bush species like black-thorn acacia expand into grasslands, reducing biodiversity, and decimating the groundwater table. In Namibia specifically, 46mn hectares of the country’s approximately 82mn hectares of total land mass are affected.

With so much unwanted biomass needing removal, PyroCCS had the perfect opportunity to help alleviate bush encroachment, boost the local economy and create biochar for use in improving soil.

“Between the need to remove excess biomass and the outsized impact biochar can have on improving degraded and sandy soils, Namibia really is a perfect place to prove the promise of biochar,” says Flo Oberhofer, Chief Operating Officer (COO) PyroCCS GmbH.

PyroCCS currently operates a biochar plant in the Otjiwarongo district of Namibia, and they are nearing completion on the second plant in Nog Verder. Each plant can produce 1,000 tons of biochar each year.

From Labor to End-Use Markets 

Alongside removing bush biomass, sequestering carbon and generating biochar that can be used to improve soil, the plants run by PyroCCS are also a great source of jobs in a country with a high rate of unemployment. Because the plants are located in remote parts of the country, a local workforce is needed to gather biomass for pyrolysis and to operate and maintain the plants. 

Each PyroCCS operation creates 20 jobs directly at the plant, along with a significant number of indirect jobs through, for example, biomass collection and plant manufacturing. With their goal of building 400 plants by 2030, PyroCCS is looking to create nearly 10,000 jobs in a country that has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.

As for the biochar itself, “it all must go back into the soil,” says Oberhofer. Currently, 10% of the product goes back for free to the biomass providers. The remaining product is aimed at developing the market in different industries like fertilizer manufacturing, plantations, landscaping and more. Overall, the PyroCCS process is rooted in long-term relationships; they can even trace where their biochar ends up in the soil. 

An Eye on Supply Chain 

One often overlooked aspect of success in biochar is the supply chain needed to keep such operations going. Each plant needs workers, equipment, a steady supply of biomass, and means to transport the finished product for sale.

This poses a unique challenge in Namibia and other parts of the Global South where it doesn’t make economic sense to source plant parts from outside countries due to the multifaceted process of repairs, spare parts, off-grid operations, and more.

“We are ‘vocal for local’ and try to keep a maximum of the value creation in the country within which our plants operate,” says Oberhofer. “This includes our pyrolysis equipment which is designed, engineered, and manufactured in the Global South.”

Getting Credit for the Work

Despite the many benefits they provide, these biochar plants aren’t financially sustainable without carbon credits. This makes it crucial that the process is accurately tracked so the carbon removal can be certified and the plant can be supported through the sale of carbon credits.

To make this process seamless, PyroCCS became certified C-Sink Managers and C-Sink Brokers, alongside developing their proprietary dMRV software Sarva Carbon which tracks over 150 data points in each pyrolysis cycle. Combining their pyrolysis equipment and software, the team was able to generate the first European BioChar Certificate C-Sink carbon credit on the entire African continent in 2023 and each one of their plants generate 2,000 tons CO₂eq carbon credits per year. 

Scaling the Solution

Combining their interest in soil health as a means to combat climate change, enact climate justice, and build the biochar industry, PyroCCS has been able to have a significant impact in Namibia and it’s only the beginning. 

Alongside their work in Namibia, the team has engaged with partners on four Artisan Pro projects across India. The on-the-ground work on the subcontinent looks different than in Namibia; rather than doing much of the work internally, PyroCCS identifies trusted implementation partners to run the operations, from biomass sourcing, biochar production, and selling. Their goal is to use agricultural waste that would otherwise be burned to produce biochar and reduce emissions as well as health hazards to the local population.  

“We believe that biochar will only grow as a sector, if biochar and biochar-based fertilisers can be a marketable and affordable product for the masses,” says Oberhofer. 

Their commitment to scaling biochar solutions is matched by their flexibility, collaborating to offer their pyrolysis machinery, dMRV software, and certification services to third-party project developers as well, with a standard-agnostic approach to carbon credit certifications. Long term, PyroCCS hope to use their expertise to build pyrolysis equipment for every waste biomass stream in the Global South.