How far is biochar from removing carbon at gigatonne scale?
Biochar is already sold as carbon removal. CDR.fyi reports 3.04 million tonnes contracted from 2022 to the end of Q2 2025, but only 658 to 683 thousand tonnes delivered over the same period, depending on which CDR.fyi figure is used. Gigatonne-scale removal, meaning about a billion tonnes of CO2 a year, appears in IPCC-linked estimates only as a potential for 2050, not as a deployed level. The main gaps are verified delivery, numeric permanence standards and sustainable biomass supply.
Nearly here. It works and is being scaled up.
Biochar carbon removal is sold, certified and partly delivered at commercial scale, with contracted volumes in the millions of tonnes. Delivered volumes are far smaller than contracted volumes, and the cumulative delivered total to mid-2025 was under a million tonnes. Gigatonne-scale removal is a modelled potential for 2050, not a level that has been reached, so the stage is scaling rather than widespread.
The tech tree
Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.
- 2025Biochar sold as carbon removal at commercial scaleDone Unlocked.
- 2026Delivered and retired tonnes reported consistentlyIn progress Being researched.
- Date not recordedCertification of biochar carbon sinksDone Unlocked.
- Date not recordedNumeric permanence standard for biochar carbonIn progress Being researched.
- Date not recordedSustainable biomass supply for feedstockNot started Locked.
- Date not recordedGigatonne-scale biochar removalNot started Locked.
- Date not recordedConsistent crop yield benefit across regionsIn progress Being researched.
- GoalBiochar as mainstream carbon removalGoalRequires: Biochar, Biochar sold as carbon removal at commercial scale, Delivered and retired tonnes reported consistently, Certification of biochar carbon sinks, Numeric permanence standard for biochar carbon, Sustainable biomass supply for feedstock, Gigatonne-scale biochar removal, Consistent crop yield benefit across regions. Locked.
The road so far
2 of 7 steps done, 3 in progress.
- Done · 9 Sept 2025Biochar sold as carbon removal at commercial scale
CDR.fyi reports 3.04 million tonnes of biochar carbon removal contracted from 2022 to the end of Q2 2025. These are contracted tonnes, not delivered tonnes. [1]
- In progress · 18 May 2026Delivered and retired tonnes reported consistently
CDR.fyi gives two delivered totals for the same period: 658 thousand tonnes in its highlights and 683 thousand tonnes in its body text, both to the end of Q2 2025. Retired totals are 302 thousand and 330 thousand tonnes. In Q1 2026, biochar made up 93% of contracted volume and 73% of retirements (reported as BCR credits), but its deliveries were grouped with other biomass methods, which together made up 88% of the 145 thousand tonnes delivered across all durable methods. [1][2]
- DoneCertification of biochar carbon sinks
The European Biochar Certificate (EBC) has a C-Sink certification that deducts the greenhouse gas emissions of producing the biochar from its carbon sink potential. Its introduction page is undated; the guideline it links is version 2.1, dated 2/10/2021 (read here as 2 October 2021). Puro.earth reported over 1 million carbon removal certificates issued by 3 March 2025, with biochar at 34.1% of issuances, as reported by ESG Today from a Puro.earth press release. [4][3]
- In progressNumeric permanence standard for biochar carbon
The EBC page says it certifies only what it can measure, calculate, track and predict with certainty, and gives no stability figure or period for biochar carbon. Weng and Cowie, as summarised by Remineralize, state that biochar systems durably sequester carbon. CDR.fyi quotes sales claims of permanence of 100 years or more, but the standards pages read here do not set a numeric threshold. [4][5][1]
- Not startedSustainable biomass supply for feedstock
WRI warns that feedstock demand could raise pressure on land without adequate safeguards, and that large-scale experience with biochar has been limited. Weng and Cowie's summary says estimates differ for several reasons, including assumptions about biomass availability. [6][5]
- Not startedGigatonne-scale biochar removal
The IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, as summarised by WRI, gives biochar's global removal potential as 0.03 to 4.9 GtCO2 a year by 2050. WRI says the upper end falls to 1 to 2 GtCO2e a year once sustainability concerns are included. Weng and Cowie's summary reports a wider range of 0.03 to 11 Pg CO2e a year across 19 studies. A potential is not a delivered level, and no source reviewed reports biochar removal at that scale. [6][5]
- In progressConsistent crop yield benefit across regions
Jeffery and colleagues (2011) reported a grand mean increase of 10% in crop productivity, with results covering a wide range from -28% to 39%. Jeffery and colleagues (2017) found, on average, no effect on yield in temperate latitudes and a 25% average increase in the tropics. They link the tropical gain to liming and fertilisation. [7][8]
Why it matters
Biochar is one of the few carbon removal routes that is already sold at commercial scale, and it can also be used in soil. If it can keep carbon for long periods at a reasonable cost, it could help meet removal goals. Whether it can reach billions of tonnes depends on sustainable biomass supply and on credible accounting of how long the carbon stays stored.
What stands in the way
- Delivered volumes are far below contracted volumes, and the public delivered totals for the same period do not agree (658 thousand and 683 thousand tonnes).
- The standards pages read here give no numeric stability threshold or period for biochar carbon, and the full methodology documents could not be read in this research.
- Biomass for feedstock is limited, and WRI warns that feedstock demand could raise pressure on land without adequate safeguards.
- Yield effects vary widely between studies and by region. In the 2011 meta-analysis, biosolids were the only feedstock with a significant negative effect (-28%).
- Delivery data are not reported for biochar alone. CDR.fyi's Q1 2026 update groups biochar with other biomass methods for deliveries.
Signals to watch
- CDR.fyi publishing biochar-only delivered and retired totals with a fixed as-of date, so the gap between contracted and delivered tonnes can be tracked.
- Puro.earth or the EBC publishing numeric stability thresholds for biochar carbon, with the measurement rules that apply.
- Certification bodies adopting feedstock rules with land-use safeguards for biochar production.
- Multi-year field trials across temperate regions, which would test the 2017 finding of no average yield effect there.
- Quarterly CDR.fyi reports that separate biochar deliveries from other biomass methods.
Sources
- other
Biochar Carbon Removal Market Snapshot 2025
CDR.fyi, 9 Sept 2025. - other
2026 Q1 Durable CDR Market Update - From Promise to Proof
CDR.fyi, 18 May 2026. - news
Puro.earth Reaches Major Milestone of 1 Million Tonnes of CO2 Removed
ESG Today, 20 Mar 2025. - standard
European Biochar Certificate: Introduction
European Biochar Certificate, 2 Oct 2021. - other
Estimates vary but credible evidence points to gigaton-scale climate change mitigation potential of biochar
Zhe Han Weng, Annette L. Cowie. Remineralize the Earth (summary of an article by Weng and Cowie), 21 May 2025. - news
How Effective Is Land At Removing Carbon Pollution? The IPCC Weighs In
Kelly Levin. World Resources Institute, 8 Aug 2019. - peer reviewed paper
A quantitative review of the effects of biochar application to soils on crop productivity using meta-analysis
S. Jeffery, F.G.A. Verheijen, M. van der Velde et al.. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2011. - peer reviewed paper
Biochar boosts tropical but not temperate crop yields
Simon Jeffery, Diego Abalos, Marija Prodana et al.. Environmental Research Letters, 25 Apr 2017.
Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.