Puro is a pioneering initiative making CO2 removals verified, comparable and tradable. Puro marketplace launched with 23 participants, but we are inviting more companies to join. Our joint goal is to reverse climate change by accelerating CO2 removal from the atmosphere.
Scale of problem
Urgency
We must radically reduce emissions and remove CO2 that is already in the atmosphere. We are less than ten years away from reaching the level of accumulated emissions, after which it is no longer possible to limit temperature rise to 1.5 °C. Currently, less than 50% of the CO2 emitted annually is absorbed naturally; it’s therefore vital to accelerate the development of CO2 removal. There are many methods that can provide CO2 removal, but they are underutilized and underdeveloped.
Removal provider is issued one CO2 Removal Certificate (CORC) for every verified ton of CO2 removed. Puro currently has science-based quantification methodologies for three long-term CO2 removal methods at an industrial scale. We welcome new CO2 removal methods to be added as they are developed and approved.
Biochar is a very stable, solid form of carbon that can endure in soil for thousands of years. It has multiple commercial uses, for example as greenhouse and soil additive or in wastewater treatment. Biochar is produced from biomass or biowaste, through pyrolysis (heated in absence of oxygen). Resulting biochar has high fixed carbon content and chemical and structural stability far greater than in the original materials.
Manufacturing concrete-like building elements using steel slag (waste material from steel industry) instead of traditional cement. Basically, it’s CO2 negative concrete that removes CO2 more than its production emits. During the hardening phase CO2 is chemically bound and mineralised permanently into the building element. Benefits of the method include easy measurability and storage of CO2 for good.
Growing trees capture CO2 which is then stored in wooden building elements. Sustainably grown wood can be used for many purposes - CO2 removal is considered long term when it’s used in construction of buildings. In Europe, buildings are designed to have minimum lifetime of 60 years, but in real life the CO2 storage is likely to be longer.
The marketplace trades CO2 removal certificates (CORCs) which are independent documents that confirm that one ton of CO2 has been removed from the atmosphere.
Supplier makes a claim for “CO2 removal”
3rd-party verification against methodology
Registry keeper issues the CO2 Removal Certificate (CORC)
Supplier makes it available in an auction and sets a floor price
Buyer makes a bid for a CORC
When prices match, a sale is made
Registry keeper transfers ownership to buyer
The CORC is retired to be used in sustainability reporting
There are many underutilized and underdeveloped CO2 removal methods that can get revenue through Puro certificate trading. We currently support three long-term CO2 removal methods at an industrial scale: CO2 fixated in carbonated building elements, wooden building elements and in biochar, but we are open for more.
Are you a carbon removal supplier? Organisations actively removing CO2 from the atmosphere can register with Puro to become verified suppliers. As a supplier, you can connect with climate-conscious companies throughout Europe in Puro marketplace.
Is your ambition to become carbon neutral? Are your customers demanding for real climate impacts? Puro is the first marketplace to offer CO2 removal certificates that are science-based, verified and industrial scale. Puro auctions are open for all companies that want to explore CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) as a solution to meet their voluntary climate objectives.
Puro is the first marketplace in Europe to offer verified CO2 removals. It’s a pioneering initiative to test if CO2 removals can be made visible and tradable through an open, online platform.
Puro is derived from the latin purus, meaning to cleanse or purify. The definition, when extended to other languages can mean free of pollutants, free of flaws or imperfections, pure and clean.
In Finnish, Puro means a stream, which serves as a metaphor for role of the marketplace enabling a flow or exchange between buyers and sellers.
In Puro the certificates are issued based on actual measurable CO2 removals from the atmosphere. Most other schemes are trading emission reductions, which is very important as well.
However, once possible reductions have been done, it’s essential to start removing at least the same amount of CO2 than your organizations operations produce.
It is a way to get CO2 away from the atmosphere and have it stored in a long term in a stable form.
A CORC is an independently verified document that confirms that 1 ton of CO2 has been removed from the atmosphere by one of the removal methods certified by Puro. It is issued by the registry to the supplier, purchased by the buyer and retired once the buyer has reported its usage.
At the moment we have three CO2 removal methods:
We used the following criteria:
Methodology consists basically from three elements:
The results of the auctions and feedback from participants are analysed. If the experiment is considered to be a success, continuation is bound to happen.
Fortum encourages new startups to be developed within the Innovation and Venturing incubation process. Puro is one of them and the costs of setting up the experiment are covered by Fortum. This is the fastest way to move forward.
Yes. If you know about a process that fulfills the criteria in the previous question and have independent evidence to back it up, please let us know.
The priority is obviously to minimize emissions first. In most cases there are multiple cost effective way you can do that. Once the easy ones have been done and you are facing increasing cost per reduced ton of CO2, you should consider compensating with CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs).
We have an independent third party who verifies all claims for certificates. At the moment our partner is DNV GL.
The price of the CORC is determined entirely based on supply and demand. We will publish the average prices from each auction afterwards.