In a new series, we will be featuring leading suppliers of CDR technologies. Each time we will focus on one company, looking at their strategy and what this means for the voluntary carbon market (#VCM).
Today, we start with Wakefield BioChar: a US company based in Valdosta, Georgia. Wakefield is the largest supplier of durable CDR to date with more than 25,000 tons delivered to date (latest figures from July 2023).
How does Wakefield operate?
🇺🇸 Wakefield repurposes primarily wood biomass into branded biochar items and compost blends in the US. These are used in agriculture to enhance yields and improve soil health.
🌳 The overall supply of wood biomass is sufficient to meet their production needs at present. However, they are looking to increase production and are continuously evaluating alternative biomass sources based on the application requirements of customers.
🌻 Wakefield emphasise that increasing demand for biochar-based products hinges on delivering tangible benefits, such as improved crop growth when used as a soil conditioner or enhanced filtration performance, ensuring its effectiveness surpasses that of conventional filters. What is Wakefield’s carbon removal strategy?
🌾 At its inception, Wakefield Biochar's primary objective was to supply biochar for soil health enhancement. However, as the demand for biochar CDR sector gains momentum, the company has embraced the potential of generating removal credits.
💵 These funds are being reinvested to expand their operations, with new pyrolysis facilities for 2024 funded partially through carbon credit sales. This exemplifies the value-sharing objective of negative emission credits.
💼 Wakefield’s top buyer is JPMorgan Chase & Co., who purchased over 9,000 tons in December 2022. Other significant buyers include Tide Platform, Swiss Re, and IMC Trading, who have each purchased at least 1,000 tons.
Across multiple industries, biochar carbon removal (#BCR) is proving itself to be an ideal solution with primary application benefits and the added bonus of CDR. At the same time, demand for biochar-based products will only increase given the wide scale of applications. Biochar suppliers like Wakefield are leading the way in this regard.
What do you think about Wakefield’s CDR provision? What other CDR suppliers would you like me to feature in this series?
Shoutout to Tony Marrero, Tom Marrero, and the rest of the team at Wakefield who are pioneering such a vital industry for reaching #netzero.
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