Market Volumes and Pricing
Chapter-length synthesis of biochar carbon removal (BCR) market volumes and price signals as of 2026-09-14. Figures are from primary / high-signal public sources only—chiefly CDR.fyi abridged reports and Puro × Nasdaq indexes. Do not treat this note as live market data; re-pull sources before diligence.
Related: Market Hub · Buyers and Offtakes · Historical Deals · Price Indexes and Benchmarks · Supply Landscape · Durable CDR Quality Tiers · Puro Pricing and CORC Indexes · Risks and Controversies
1. How to read the three volume metrics
| Metric | What it measures | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Contracted / purchased | Forward offtakes + spot sales reported to trackers | Demand & bankability; dominated by multi-year megadeals |
| Delivered | Tonnes actually issued / delivered ex-post | Operational proof; BCR leads all durable CDR methods here |
| Retired | Tonnes cancelled on a registry for a climate claim | Final use of the credit; liquidity + claim integrity |
CDR.fyi tracks durable removals (hundreds to thousands of years permanence). Coverage claim in Q1 2026 notes: ~97%+ of publicly disclosed durable CDR contract volume (methodology caveats).
2. Cumulative BCR volumes (Q1 2022 → H1 2025)
Primary source: Biochar Carbon Removal Market Snapshot 2025 (published 2025-09-09).
Headline table
| Metric | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cumulative BCR contracted | 3.04 Mt | Q1 2022 through end-H1 2025 |
| Of which H1 2025 | 1.6 Mt | Exceeded all prior periods combined since 2022 |
| Cumulative delivered | 683 kt | End-Q2 2025 (highlights also list 658 kt—prefer body 683 kt) |
| Cumulative retired | 330 kt | End-Q2 2025 (highlights also list 302 kt—prefer body 330 kt) |
| Delivered : purchased | ~22% (1 : 4.5) | Large forward books vs physical delivery |
| Retired : delivered | ~50% (1 : 2) | Half of delivered tonnes retired by end-Q2 2025 |
| Unique BCR purchasers | 290 | ~5× more buyers than next CDR method by buyer count |
| Avg volume / purchaser / year | 542 t (2022) → 762 t (H1 2025) | Rising average order size |
| Ex-Microsoft avg deal size | 197 t → 278 t | Still small vs megadeals |
| Median contracted | 90 t (2024) → 73 t (2025 YTD in snapshot) | Majority of purchasers still <100 t |
Growth narrative
- 2022–2024: purchase tonnage roughly tripled year-over-year; 2024 purchases exceeded all prior years combined.
- Q2 2025: largest BCR quarter ever, driven by Microsoft–Exomad Green ≥1.24 Mt (Exomad May 2025; Historical Deals).
- Deliveries and retirements roughly doubled annually 2022–2024; Q1–Q2 2025 retirements were closer to flat vs year-ago quarters (+12% / +0.4%).
BCR’s role inside durable CDR
| Share type | BCR share | Peer context |
|---|---|---|
| Durable CDR deliveries (since Q1 2022) | ~86% | Delivery leader |
| Durable CDR retirements | ~92% | Retirement leader |
| Durable CDR contracted | ~10% | BECCS ~75% of contracted; DAC ~9% |
Interpretation: biochar is the workhorse of delivered/retired tonnes and the default entry method for new buyers, while BECCS dominates headline contracted megatonnes that may take years to deliver.
Market value series (pricing basis from 2024 YIR)
Using CDR.fyi’s 2024 Year-in-Review pricing basis applied to BCR volumes (Snapshot 2025):
| Year | Est. BCR market value |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $14.6M |
| 2023 | $33.9M |
| 2024 | $181.5M |
CAGR 131.6% (2022–2024). Exact BCR $/t averages are not published in the abridged Snapshot.
3. 2024 durable CDR context (pricing + delivery)
Primary source: 2024 Year in Review (published 2025-02-14; appendix note dated Feb 20, 2025).
| Metric | 2024 figure |
|---|---|
| Total durable CDR purchased | Almost 8 Mt (+78% YoY) |
| Deliveries | 318.6 kt (+120% YoY) |
| Delivery-to-booking ratio | 4.4% |
| Biochar share of delivery volume | 86% (and 83% of 2020–2024 cumulative deliveries) |
| Weighted avg price (disclosed orders, all methods) | 320 / tCO₂ (2023→2024) |
| Biochar price change | +18% YoY (exception vs most methods; exact $/t not in abridged post) |
| Mineralization price change | +123% YoY (peer comparison) |
| Purchaser concentration | Microsoft + Google + Frontier buyers >75%; Microsoft alone ~64% (5.1 Mt) |
| Unique purchasers growth | Only +7% (202→216); first-time buyers −18% |
Supplier geography for BCR deliveries (YIR): Global South prominent—Exomad Green & Aperam Bioenergia (South America), Carboneers & Planboo (Africa), Varaha (India); US names include Wakefield Biochar and Pacific Biochar.
4. Q1 2026 update — “from promise to proof”
Primary source: 2026 Q1 Durable CDR Market Update (published 2026-05-18).
Quarter totals
| Metric | Q1 2026 |
|---|---|
| Durable CDR contracted | 2.3 Mt (~560% of Q1 2025; largest Q1 on record) |
| Biochar share of contracted | 93% |
| Top-5 deals | All BCR; ~91% of quarterly tonnes |
| Deliveries | 145 kt (+67% YoY; 2nd-highest quarter ever; −46% vs Q4 2025) |
| Retirements | Just over 100 kt (2nd-highest); BCR 73% of retirements |
| Microsoft share of contracted | ~43% |
| Non-Microsoft contracted | 1.3 Mt (3rd-highest non-Microsoft quarter) |
| Intermediary-facilitated tonnes | 74% (record high); 62% of deals |
Q1 2026 BCR megadeals (summary)
Full citations in Historical Deals:
| Buyer / facilitator | Seller | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Liferaft | 1 Mt (~43.5% of quarter) (Liferaft) |
| Supercritical | Exomad Green | up to 500 kt (Supercritical) |
| Altitude | Empacar | >305 kt (Altitude) |
| AMP | 200 kt (AMP) | |
| Undisclosed via Senken | Exomad Green | 105 kt (CDR.fyi Q1 2026) |
Exomad + Varaha ≈ 70% of Q1 deliveries. Investment aside: Varaha raised $20M in Q1 2026 (CDR.fyi).
Structural warning from CDR.fyi
Headline volume remains buyer-concentrated. Q1 2026 was strong vs prior Q1s but a step down from mid-2025’s exceptional pace. Expanding the buyer pool (software, finance, professional services; residual-heavy sectors) is framed as necessary for sustained growth—see Buyers and Offtakes · Risks and Controversies.
5. Price trends — index vs bilateral
5.1 Public index (Puro × Nasdaq)
Retrieved 2026-09-14 from Puro Carbon Removal Indexes:
| Index | Aug 2026 level | 1-mo Δ | 6-mo Δ | YTD Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CORCX (all CORC pathways) | €150.40 | +€12.05 (+8.71%) | +€10.29 (+7.35%) | +€15.31 (+11.33%) |
| CORCCHAR (biochar CORCs) | €135.35 | +€6.12 (+4.74%) | +€3.81 (+2.74%) | +€2.50 (+1.88%) |
Deep how-to-read: Price Indexes and Benchmarks · Puro Pricing and CORC Indexes.
CORCCHAR < CORCX in this snapshot: biochar trades at a discount to the all-CORC composite on reported near-term Puro transactions—not proof of a global BCR discount vs Verra/Isometric/CSI.
5.2 Survey / disclosed-order pricing (CDR.fyi)
| Observation | Detail | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| All-method WAP ↓ | 320 / t (2023→2024) (YIR) | Mix of DAC, BECCS, EW, BCR, etc. |
| Biochar ↑ | +18% YoY (YIR) | Exact BCR mean undisclosed in abridged YIR |
| Narrow BCR band | YIR says biochar settled into a “relatively narrow price range” | No numeric band published in abridged post |
| Megadeal unit prices | Generally not in press releases | Major transparency gap |
5.3 Index vs bilateral offtakes
| Channel | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Index (CORCCHAR) | Near-term reported CORC trades; transparent €/t level; Puro-only |
| Spot platform inventory | Certified tonnes; may track near index |
| Multi-year offtakes | Firm + optional volumes; prices usually confidential; may embed delivery risk, co-benefits, dMRV requirements |
| Intermediated portfolios | Supercritical, Senken, Watershed, Patch, Carbonfuture, etc.; 74% of Q1 2026 tonnes |
Science-side abatement cost ranges (e.g., literature ~$70–360/t) are not credit market prices—see Quantitative Benchmarks.
5.4 Quality-tier effects on price
Public abridged sources do not quantify CCP-label or 1000-year-path premiums in $/t. Practical segmentation hypotheses (unverified price deltas):
- Buyers requiring CCP methodology labels today may prefer Verra VM0044 VCUs.
- Buyers requiring 1000-year Ro / burial may prefer Isometric Biochar Protocol (e.g., Carba–Microsoft).
- Buyers optimizing near-term delivery + CORCCHAR discovery may prefer Puro CORC200+ inventory.
- Uncertified marketing claims should clear at zero credit value for neutralization accounting (Durable CDR Quality Tiers).
6. Liquidity & cycle time
| Signal | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Puro biochar CORC issuance → transfer/retirement | 95 days (2021) → 22 days (mid-2025) | Snapshot 2025 citing Puro Aug 2025 report |
| Retired : delivered (BCR cumulative) | ~50% by end-Q2 2025 | Snapshot 2025 |
| Intermediary share of Q1 2026 tonnes | 74% | Q1 2026 |
Faster CORC turnover improves working-capital dynamics for suppliers on the Puro stack (Puro Project Cycle and MRV · Puro Pricing and CORC Indexes).
7. Why buyers choose BCR (volume implications)
From Snapshot business-case synthesis (Swiss Re, SEB, Tide, Nasdaq, and diversified majors):
- Rapid contracting → delivery relative to DAC/BECCS.
- Lower prices relative to many engineered methods (qualitative; exact differentials sparse).
- Ability to start small (<100 t trials) — explains 290 unique purchasers.
These structural advantages explain why BCR can be ~10% of contracted durable CDR yet ~86–92% of delivered/retired tonnes.
8. Gaps / what isn’t public
- Exact BCR average $/t series (only +18% and market-value aggregates in abridged YIR/Snapshot).
- Unit prices on Microsoft–Exomad, Microsoft–Liferaft, Google–AMP, Altitude–Empacar, Supercritical–Exomad.
- Full registry mix of delivered BCR (Puro vs Verra vs Isometric vs CSI) in abridged posts.
- Post–Q1 2026 quarterly abridged update (none fetched as of 2026-09-14 beyond May 2026).
- Option volumes, take-or-pay schedules, and penalty clauses in offtakes.
- Private inventory and OTC desk quotes outside CORCCHAR.
9. Primary citations
- CDR.fyi Biochar Snapshot 2025 — 2025-09-09
- CDR.fyi 2024 Year in Review — 2025-02-14
- CDR.fyi 2026 Q1 Durable CDR Update — 2026-05-18
- Puro CORC indexes — retrieved 2026-09-14
- Deal press links — see Historical Deals · Key Sources
See also
Market Hub · Buyers and Offtakes · Historical Deals · Price Indexes and Benchmarks · Supply Landscape · Durable CDR Quality Tiers · Puro Pricing and CORC Indexes · Puro.earth Overview · Puro CORC200+ · Verra VM0044 · Isometric Biochar Protocol · CSI Global Biochar C-Sink · Biochar as Durable CDR · Risks and Controversies · Quantitative Benchmarks · Carbon Markets Hub · Industry Hub · Key Sources