How Demand is Shaping the Biochar Carbon Credit Market: Nasdaq x Puro.earth

How demand is shaping the biochar market

Fredrik Ekström – Chairman of Puro.earth – recently sat down with two of the most active buyers and investors in biochar, for a conversation filmed at Nasdaq in New York.

Benjamin Schulz, CEO and Founder of Altitude, has committed more than one million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent across six publicly announced offtakes valued at over $100 million – and every one of those purchases has been biochar. Jason Dodier is a carbon markets advisor and investor who spent years at Grain Ecosystem visiting projects across the world.

Here are some of the takeaways from that conversation:

Biochar has become the benchmark for buyers. Benjamin was clear on why he likes biochar: the formula of carbon removed per dollar spent, coupled with timeframe that makes commercial sense. Biochar projects can be expected to produce removal credits within six months. For buyers benchmarking across methodologies, it remains and important reference point.

A credit without a credible data story is a liability, not an asset. Jason put it plainly. Buyers are no longer assessing tonnes removed in isolation – they are assessing transparency, integrity, and operational maturity. This is translating into buyer interest in biochar.

Bankable projects share two fundamentals. When asked what separates a bankable biochar project from a higher-risk one, Benjamin identifies two pillars: sustainable, secure, year-round feedstock supply at a cost that supports viable unit economics; and a straightforward, well-understood application for the physical biochar produced. Fredrik noted that Nasdaq’s CO2X price reference index now shows biochar credit prices consistently in the $125–$145 range across projects from different regions and feedstocks – a sign of growing market maturity.

The infrastructure gap is closing. Fredrik pointed to the pace of innovation in Puro’s issuance process as evidence of what is possible. In the early 2020s, the average time from credit issuance to a buyer account in the registry was around 95 days. In 2025, that figure was 17 days. Faster issuance – without compromising rigour – is part of what makes the commercial opportunity real for developers and buyers alike.

What needs to happen next. Benjamin argues that the commercial opportunity which already exists should be pursued actively, because a functioning market makes it easier for policy frameworks to follow. Jason made the case for standardisation: moving from bespoke, one-off transactions to repeatable project structures that can attract the full capital stack – senior debt, mezzanine, private equity, and eventually sovereign wealth. Fredrik pointed to greater financial intermediary participation and the incorporation of CDR into compliance frameworks as the structural changes most likely to shift the curve.