What moved in the global carbon removal and biochar market this month, what it means for African project developers, and where our own platform has moved. Written for buyers, funders, partners and anyone tracking this sector on the continent.
Our reference plant is co-located with a Western Cape sawmill under a ten year feedstock agreement at zero cost per tonne, converting residue that has no higher value use. The design basis is approximately 1,350 tonnes of certified biochar and approximately 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal per year, using PyroCCS SCB-S slow pyrolysis technology.
We describe PyroPSP as a reference plant rather than a pilot, because the technology is already operating commercially. What we are proving here is the South African delivery model, not the science.
PyroPSP will certify under Isometric, with Sarva Carbon as our digital measurement, reporting and verification partner. August work focused on aligning the measurement chain from feedstock intake through production to end use against the Isometric protocol.
Measured, digitally verified removal is increasingly what separates credits that clear buyer diligence from credits that do not. We would rather carry that cost from day one than retrofit it later.
We hold a binding letter of intent covering both biochar supply and the associated carbon removal credits. Laboratory testing of our biochar as a concrete additive is under way, and we will not commit to volume pricing before those results are in.
The attraction of the concrete route is accounting as much as chemistry. Biochar incorporated into concrete retains close to 98.5 percent of its organic carbon under built environment accounting, materially higher than the equivalent soil pathway.
Terevive is our agricultural route to market, structured as a separate soil programme company sitting outside the plant project company. It sells structured soil improvement programmes to commercial farming systems, designed around charged biochar rather than raw product. Carbon removal credits stay with the project company.
The distinction matters because raw biochar applied without charging is the most common way trials underperform.
PyroPSP is plant one of a twelve plant modular platform across Sub-Saharan Africa. During August we completed site development visits across Mpumalanga and eSwatini, working on forestry residue, agricultural residue and cleared alien invasive feedstock streams. The platform financial model was updated during the month.
We are deliberately technology agnostic at platform level. Whichever partner originates a site gets their technology deployed by default, subject to our veto on bankability and performance grounds.
The PyroPSP equity round is open alongside development finance support, with investor due diligence active. On permitting, the applicable atmospheric emission licence subcategories have been confirmed with the district municipality, and the environmental authorisation route is being worked with our appointed environmental assessment practitioner.
Permitting timelines remain the single largest determinant of our path to financial close. We would rather say that plainly than present a schedule we cannot defend.
| Reference | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq CORCCHAR Index (Puro.earth) | EUR 125 to 145 | Volume-weighted spot reference for near-term delivery, from arm's length transactions on the Puro registry. Clustered in this band since 2025 and holding. |
| S and P Global, US biochar | EUR 148 to 150 | Roughly EUR 150 for 2025 delivery and EUR 148 for 2026 delivery. Two years of scaling deliveries have not brought the price down. |
| Broad market range, Aug 2026 | EUR 100 to 200 | The full biochar band across geographies and certification tiers. The spread reflects feedstock, region, and how much audit trail the buyer needs. |
| CDR.fyi and OPIS survey | Gap to USD 48 | Buyer and supplier expectations expected to converge to roughly USD 48 per tonne apart by 2030. Biochar holds firmest on tight supply, so no broad fall to USD 100. |
| PyroSA modelled price | R2,500 (approx EUR 122) | We model at or just below the lower bound of every reference above. A deliberate choice: the investment case should stand without needing the carbon price to rise. |
The honest read on pricing is that our exposure is on volume and verification timing, not on price. A conservative modelled price is where unmodelled upside sits.
The draft EU BCR Standard runs two certification tracks. Track A covers soil application, including direct application, blending into compost, manure, growing media and substrates, and feeding to animals with recovery as manure. Track B covers biochar incorporated into cement, concrete or asphalt. The standard sets out biomass sourcing and feedstock classification rules alongside digital measurement, reporting and verification requirements. Consultation closes 24 September 2026.
Why it matters to us: Track B is a direct read across to our concrete offtake pathway. A government benchmarked methodology for built environment biochar moves concrete crediting from a niche argument to a recognised route, which changes how buyers and funders price that revenue line. Track A's explicit inclusion of compost and manure blending also supports the charged biochar model that Terevive is built on.
Source: Carbon Herald, 27 Aug 2026
Climitra converts the invasive shrub Prosopis juliflora into durable biochar in the Kutch district, generating removals under Isometric's distributed biomass methodology. Sourcing is directed through a geospatial mapping platform working alongside government stakeholders, turning invasive species clearing into rural income and grassland restoration.
This is a working precedent for the additionality and chain of custody case that cleared alien invasive feedstock has to make, which is exactly the question in front of several of our own pipeline sites where the biomass comes from clearing programmes rather than from a mill.
Source: Carbon Herald, 21 Aug 2026
A removals registry reports a marked increase in biochar interest from food, beverage and fashion companies following publication of the Science Based Targets initiative's Corporate Net Zero Standard V2.0. This widens the buyer base beyond the technology and financial services concentration that has defined the market so far.
For a producer with both a physical product and a removal credit, agricultural supply chain buyers are a natural fit, because they value the soil co-benefit alongside the removal rather than treating it as an incidental extra.
Source: Carbon Pulse, 04 Aug 2026
Against 2.3 million tonnes contracted in the first quarter of 2026, of which biochar was 93 percent, the market's dependence on a single buyer has not eased. Delivery tells a healthier story: buyers other than the two largest account for only 17 percent of contracted tonnes but 90 percent of delivered and 94 percent of retired tonnes.
This is precisely why we lead with physical biochar sales before carbon credits. A project that only works if a small number of buyers keep contracting is a project with a concentration problem, and dual revenue is the structural answer to it.
Source: CDR.fyi
Led by AVP with Lowercarbon Capital and Plural participating. A better capitalised registry means faster protocol development and more verification throughput, a positive read for any project certifying on that pathway. Separately, Puro.earth crossed one million retired removal certificates and launched a programme to align its methodologies with the incoming EU framework.
Source: CDR.fyi
The developer reports substantial construction and permitting progress alongside sustained engagement with regulators, policymakers and community partners, framing the plant's long term value as reducing biomass transport distances within California's Central Valley. The localised feedstock logic is the same one that drives our own co-location model.
Source: Carbon Herald, 21 Aug 2026
The headline rate rose 31 percent on 1 January 2026, the largest single increase since the tax began. Phase 2 also increases the proportion of liability that may be settled with offsets, which is expected to lift domestic offset demand sharply.
The constraint for biochar developers is unchanged. The Carbon Offset Administration System does not currently recognise biochar or Isometric credits, so routing durable removal credits to domestic carbon tax abatement is not available today. The Phase 2 offset eligibility rules are worth watching closely, because a change there would open a domestic buyer pool at prices well above the current voluntary market.
Source: Anthesis Group
A significant integrity action against projects found to be suspicious, hitting compliance buyers directly. Each episode of this kind pushes buyers further toward measured, digitally verified removals and away from estimated or modelled abatement. Uncomfortable for parts of the offset market, and good for durable removal projects that can show a continuous measurement chain.
Source: Carbon Herald, 21 Aug 2026
The draft brings forward the point at which companies must start buying durable removals rather than deferring to 2035. Combined with SBTi V2.0, effective 2027, the two standards together create a near term demand floor rather than a distant one. Consultation closes 09 September 2026.
Source: CDR.fyi
Invasive Prosopis is cleared from farmland at no cost to the landowner, with landowners participating in the revenue structure. Conversion is via Kon-Tiki kilns at 600 to 800 degrees with real time temperature monitoring, certified under the Global Artisan C-Sink Standard. The project cites 561 permanent jobs and frames South Africa's 25 million hectares of alien plant invasion as the addressable resource.
The contrast with an industrial reactor model is instructive. Artisan conversion is cheaper and faster to deploy, against lower carbon yield, weaker process control, and a certification route that does not carry the same buyer premium as digitally verified removal. Both models have a place, and South Africa is large enough to need both.
Source: African Sun Holdings
ACRA is delivered with the remove accelerator team, the sus.lab group at ETH Zurich and the Net Zero Lab at the Max Planck Institute, with Strathmore University and the Nuvoni Centre. The cohort spans coconut husk biochar, sugarcane bagasse biochar, agroforestry biochar, enhanced rock weathering, smallholder measurement systems, and a Namibian biomass venture. A good map of who is building carbon removal capacity on the continent.
Source: ACRA Programme
Terraton bundles financing, technology and market access for agribusinesses with minimal upfront investment from the host. First projects are with a Ghanaian cocoa processor and a Kenyan nut processor, together targeting over 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal annually, with income flowing to smallholders through waste payments and improved soils. Backed by Lowercarbon Capital and Gigascale Capital.
The closest structural analogue we have seen to a community hub and spoke model, and worth watching as a template for aggregating smallholder feedstock without pushing the capital burden onto the farmer.
Source: Carbon Herald
We are always interested in conversations with biomass owners sitting on residue with no higher use, with buyers building a durable removal portfolio with African exposure, and with investors backing carbon removal infrastructure in emerging markets. Reach us at johan@pyrosa.co.za, or read our Questions and Answers.
General market commentary. Not investment, financial or commercial advice. Forward looking statements about our own projects reflect current expectations and are subject to permitting, financing and construction risk.