Inspiration at Gigatonne Scale
July 2024 | Read the full Global Biochar Industry Update newsletter
Each week I reserve two hours for calls with biochar industry stakeholders around the world.
It’s one of my favorite parts of this work, and I generally leave each call buoyed with optimism, inspiration, and hope. As the people I speak with wish each other “good morning, good afternoon, and good night” across time zones, talking about the winters and summers in our respective southern and northern hemispheres, I also keep track of biochar industry changes — a sort of qualitative market research.
This month I had the privilege to speak with IBI members and collaborators from Western Colorado University, A Healthier Earth, Grain Ecosystems, Carbon Standards International, Cornell University, Exomad, Pyreg, m3gc, PyroCCS, Airex Energy, the Next 150, Flowcarbon, Towing, Wong Phai, Coalition for Action on Soil Health, Airminers, and Browning Environmental Communications. (I highly recommend you take time to learn about all of these organizations’ work if you aren’t familiar, and you’ll understand why I feel so inspired after these calls – and if you want maximum inspiration, check out the full IBI member directory). We also chatted with new colleagues at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Club Climate Europe, and Carbon Unbound Summits.
Also on my erstwhile qualitative research list, I celebrate these recent developments for the biochar ecosystem:
- Denmark’s recent announcement to invest €1.35b into biochar carbon removal, as part of a larger climate change law that also introduced a €100/t CO2 tax for agricultural emissions. (learn how biochar can reduce methane emissions in agriculture)
- Big Valley’s funding announcement for the biochar-focused Ag360 Fund
- Standard Biocarbon’s provision of biochar to tackle PFAS contamination of farm land in Maine
- Bio-Logical Raises $1.3M to Scale Carbon Removal and Build the Climate Resilience of Kenyan Smallholder Farmers
- Carbon Gold announced a new partnership with Westland Horticulture, a significant milestone as it introduces a range of enriched biochar products to conventional garden retailers for the first time
(Do you have news you’d like to share with IBI’s stakeholders? Let us know here and we’ll share all non-promotional news and events.)
Looking forward, I hope to meet many of you on the IBI & ICHAR biochar study tour 16-18 Oct. in Tuscany, learning about how biochar is a powerful solution for vineyards. (And yes, there will be wine!) In Nov., please make sure to join the German Biochar Forum — submit abstracts for the gathering and learn more.
Until then, I hope your mornings, afternoons, and evenings in your winter or summer are inspired by all the climate change solutions we can deploy, at scale, right now.
