Rothschild & Co and Carbo Culture sign multi-year carbon removal offtake agreement
Rothschild & Co has signed a multi-year carbon credit purchase partnership with Carbo Culture, a Finnish-Californian climate technology company with a scalable approach to carbon removal. Their patented Carbolysis™ reactors convert waste biomass into safe and stable biochar, locking carbon away for centuries. Through this agreement, Rothschild & Co has committed to purchase biochar carbon credits from Carbo Culture annually from 2025 through 2030. This will aid Carbo Culture in their mission to remove one gigaton of CO2 whilst supporting Rothschild & Co toward its 2030 sustainability commitments.
Carbo Culture innovatively combines technology with nature. Their removal process first takes leftover biomass from the agricultural industry before applying heat and pressure to rapidly transform it into high-permanence biochar without burning any of the material. As plants grow, they naturally absorb CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis. Usually, these plants would release that carbon back into the air as they decompose, but instead, Carbo Culture intervenes with a scalable patented technology that permanently prevents that carbon from re-entering the atmosphere, in a highly efficient process that eliminates unwanted bio-oils and tars.
Rothschild & Co’s ambition is to continue its efforts to reduce its operational GHG emissions as far as possible and to remove an equivalent amount of CO2 for all residual, unavoidable operational GHG emissions by 2030 with the help of high-quality long-term carbon removal solutions. This credit procurement agreement forms part of the Group’s balanced portfolio approach to carbon compensation.
“We see certified biochar projects realised through innovative technology as provided by Carbo Culture as an excellent solution for efficient and permanent carbon removal. It is needed today as one of the key tools to address the risks presented by climate change.” says Anne Imbach, Group Head of Sustainability at Rothschild & Co.
“We believe our biochar is a game-changer for climate change. It is safe, accessible and cost-effective – and has the potential to scale up fast”, says Henrietta Moon, CEO of Carbo Culture. “With the support from companies like Rothschild & Co, our technology can fulfil its potential to grow fast enough to prevent the climate crisis.”