Varaha and Google Sign One of the Largest Industrial Biochar CDR Offtake Agreements

January 16, 2024 (India, US): Varaha, an Indian company developing carbon removal projects in Asia, has sold 100,000 carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits to Google. The credits in this offtake agreement, to be delivered to Google by 2030, are generated from Varaha’s industrial biochar project in Gujarat. This purchase from Varaha is part of one of the largest purchases of biochar carbon removal credits by any buyer up to this date, and also marks Google’s first-ever large-scale purchase of carbon removal credits in India.

“Biochar is a promising approach to carbon removal, because it has the ability to scale worldwide, using existing technology, with positive side effects for soil health,” said Randy Spock, Google’s carbon removal lead. “We’re excited to partner with Varaha in putting maximum rigor behind this approach and setting the right foundation to help it reach the scale needed by Google and the planet to enable a net zero emissions future.”

In addition to its magnitude and focus on biochar as a critical tool for carbon removal, this agreement is catalytic in three ways:

• It proves the viability of partnering with smallholder farmers on carbon removal projects, which can inspire similar initiatives globally.

• It demonstrates demand for biochar among smallholders as an agricultural input, already indicated by Varaha’s contract to sell 1,300 tonnes of physical biochar produced by this project.

• It will help advance understanding of how to optimally use invasive species as a biochar feedstock.

Varaha has implemented 14 technology-driven carbon projects in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Kenya. These span regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar and enhanced rock weathering. Varaha has transitioned more than 100,000 smallholder farmers to sustainable practices to date, removing more than two million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) from the atmosphere. Varaha was the first project developer in India to issue carbon removal credits for biochar under the Puro.Earth registry.

“With Google’s support, Varaha is committed to scaling durable, high-quality carbon removal to benefit the most vulnerable smallholder families,” said Madhur Jain, CEO and co-founder of Varaha. “A contract for 100,000 carbon credits, while historic for the biochar sector, is small relative to the total needs of the planet. This contract paves the way for Varaha to serve other buyers of biochar credits in the coming 12 months and to set up more biochar pyrolysis facilities in other regions of India with abundant biomass feedstock.”

Varaha’s project will generate biochar from the biomass of an invasive plant species, Prosopis Juliflora, through a state-of-the-art pyrolysis facility in Gujarat. The current  Prosopis Juliflora infestation reduces plant biodiversity and overtakes native grasslands originally used for livestock grazing in Gujarat. Varaha’s project will excavate Prosopis Juliflora and restore native grasslands.

Varaha has invested in research and development to experiment with different biomass, pyrolysis methods, temperature, and production batch periods. As a result, Varaha has successfully generated biochar with strong permanence and recalcitrance characteristics, as measured by its mean reflectance rate and  Hydrogen-to-Carbon ratio. Moreover, India’s abundant feedstock and lower operational costs ensure Varaha’s cost of producing a credit is among the lowest in the world. The biochar produced by the project is pulverized, mixed with bio-manure, and provided or sold to nearby smallholder farmers for field application.

This project leverages Varaha’s advanced in-house digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification system, developed by its 30-member science and technology team. Varaha integrates remote-sensing to monitor biomass availability. Varaha’s mobile application captures geo-tagged, time-stamped images to document geographically distributed project activities, like biomass excavation and field application of biochar. This ensures the credits produced meet the highest global standards for transparency and scalability under Puro.Earth, a leading CDR registry.

Biochar is a stable form of carbon that can sequester carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries up to over a millennium. As corporate demand for durable carbon removal credits rises, biochar is an attractive option due to its permanence and affordability.