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Welcome to Carbon Insider - Carbon Unbound's weekly briefing on the deals, data, and developments shaping the global carbon removal market. Let's get into it. Have we missed anything? Get in touch here to send news for feature or publish.
Frontier awards $2.1 million in OAE innovation grants to four research teams tackling ocean alkalinity enhancement at scale
The advance market commitment backed by Stripe, Google, and Shopify has funded the University of St Andrews, the University of Cambridge, [C]Worthy, and Submarine Scientific to address the three core technical bottlenecks slowing ocean alkalinity enhancement deployment: identifying scalable mineral feedstocks, preventing unwanted precipitation at the point of addition, and developing cheaper MRV tools. All four projects will publish open-access research outputs.
U.S. Bank enters the carbon removal market with its first CDR credit purchase from a Minnesota landfill biochar project
U.S. Bank has bought carbon removal credits from Carba, a Minneapolis-based startup operating at a Minnesota landfill — the first carbon removal purchase by a major US bank. Carba's reactors convert utility-trimmed wood chips into biochar using molten salts, burying the material underground for thousand-year permanence at under $100 per tonne. Microsoft is already purchasing 44,000 tonnes from the same project, which was the first to receive Isometric validation for biochar storage in low-oxygen environments.
Switzerland ships its first liquefied CO2 to Denmark in landmark cross-border BECCS commercial debut
Airfix, CO2 Energie AG, and South Pole have launched commercial operations at Switzerland's first integrated BECCS project, capturing up to 4,300 tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually from agricultural and food waste at Switzerland's largest biomethane plant. The liquefied CO2 is transported by truck, rail, and ship from Niederwil to Project Greensand's offshore storage site 1,800 metres beneath the North Sea — achieving 91.7% net removal efficiency across the entire supply chain. The project is the first non-Danish initiative to inject carbon at Greensand, and is backed by an $11.6 million credit pre-purchase agreement from the Climate Cent Foundation through 2030.
Verra's VCS Version 5 gains ICVCM Core Carbon Principles approval as voluntary carbon market integrity standards tighten
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market recognised Verra's Verified Carbon Standard Version 5 as CCP-Eligible on September 2, raising the baseline for carbon credit quality and transparency across the market. Buyers still need to verify methodology-level approval before applying the CCP label to specific credits.
UNEP report warns world will breach the 1.5°C global warming threshold but identifies a pathway back through CDR and deep emissions cuts
A new UNEP report, Limiting Overshoot, identifies an "overshoot, peak, and decline" pathway as the best remaining option for limiting the scale and duration of a 1.5°C breach. Returning below that threshold will require immediate greenhouse gas cuts including methane, a global net-zero trajectory, and long-term net-negative emissions delivered through carefully governed carbon dioxide removal. In the most optimistic scenario modelled, temperatures peak at 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels.
Avnos launches hybrid direct air capture operations at Project Brighton in New Jersey - its largest DAC deployment to date
Avnos has begun commercial operations at its Project Brighton site in Bridgewater, New Jersey, deploying its proprietary HDAC™ technology at a scale designed to capture 450 tonnes of atmospheric CO2 annually while also producing approximately 475,000 gallons of clean water per year - all without external heat input. The project was developed with US Office of Naval Research funding and supports Avnos' work on DAC-sourced CO2 for sustainable aviation fuel production. The company has raised over $100 million to date from backers including Mitsubishi, Shell, NextEra, ConocoPhillips, the US Department of Energy, and the US Department of Defense.
XPRIZE winner Mati Carbon partners with CGIAR to run enhanced rock weathering field trials across tropical smallholder farms
Mati Carbon has signed a five-year global MoU with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to design and publish independent field trials of enhanced rock weathering in tropical smallholder farming systems — regions where soils are older, more acidic, and more weathered than the temperate agricultural settings where most ERW evidence has so far been generated. The collaboration will assess whether crushed basalt can be responsibly scaled across diverse tropical crops and agroecological conditions, with findings published regardless of outcome.
Deep Sky One becomes the first direct air capture project to receive a pre-issuance carbon credit rating, scoring AAA-A from Sylvera
Sylvera has issued its first-ever pre-issuance rating for a DAC project, awarding Deep Sky One — one of the largest direct air capture facilities currently in development globally — an AAA-A score across carbon accounting, additionality, permanence, and delivery risk. The rating is designed to give buyers and investors an integrity signal before credits are issued, addressing a key barrier to financing large-scale, first-of-a-kind removal projects where offtake decisions must be made years ahead of operations.
Econetix signs million-dollar CORSIA carbon credit deal with RWE as aviation compliance deadline tightens
Carbon project developer Econetix has agreed to supply CORSIA-eligible carbon credits to European energy trader RWE Supply & Trading, as companies accelerate positioning ahead of the aviation scheme's first unit surrender deadline.
California finalises multi-year cap-and-invest overhaul as OAL approves updated ETS regulation
California's Office of Administrative Law approved the state's revised Cap-and-Invest regulation on August 31, sealing a major revamp of the programme and clearing the way for the next phase of the state's emissions trading scheme.
US federal court strikes down New York's climate superfund targeting fossil fuel companies
A federal court ruled New York's climate superfund law invalid on August 31, dealing a significant blow to the state's effort to hold fossil fuel companies financially responsible for climate damages — and setting a precedent with implications for similar legislation across the US.
Dutch government prepares to invest over €1 billion in carbon capture and storage infrastructure
The Netherlands is readying a major public investment in CCS, signalling accelerating commitment to CCUS deployment as Northern European storage infrastructure enters its build-out phase.
UK pledges £400 million loan to Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures fund, bringing TFFF close to $10 billion target
The UK government's commitment moves the fund within reach of its headline target, strengthening the financing pipeline for nature and carbon removal projects across developing markets.
Japanese DAC startup Planet Savers wins up to $2.1 million government grant to scale CO2-adsorbing materials for direct air capture
A Tokyo-based direct air capture company has been awarded government funding to develop and commercialise CO2-adsorbing materials, a meaningful signal of Japan's growing public investment in engineered carbon removal.
Oil and gas industry calls for three-year delay to EU methane import monitoring rules as 2027 deadline approaches
The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers has formally called on the EU to push back binding methane monitoring and reporting requirements for energy imports, arguing that the compliance infrastructure required under the Methane Regulation is not yet in place.
US biochar firm and Singapore asphalt producer sign MoU to pilot carbon-sequestering road infrastructure
Verde Resources and Highway International have agreed to test a biochar-based carbon platform for roads and infrastructure — an emerging application for durable CDR that could scale biochar deployment into the built environment.
Zambia and Switzerland authorise Article 6.2 carbon credit project covering 200,000 advanced cookstoves
The two countries have formally authorised a large-scale clean cooking initiative in Zambia under the Paris Agreement's Article 6.2 framework, adding to the growing pipeline of bilateral carbon trading agreements.
Superpollutants - methane, black carbon, and refrigerants - remain the fastest and most underused lever in the climate toolkit
A new analysis argues that cutting short-lived climate pollutants responsible for roughly half of current warming could avoid around 0.2°C of temperature rise by 2050, and describes them as an "emergency brake" on near-term warming while the deeper decarbonisation transition plays out.
Welcome to Carbon Insider - Carbon Unbound's weekly briefing on the deals, data, and developments shaping the global carbon removal market. Let's get into it. Have we missed anything? Get in touch here to send news for feature or publish.
Frontier awards $2.1 million in OAE innovation grants to four research teams tackling ocean alkalinity enhancement at scale
The advance market commitment backed by Stripe, Google, and Shopify has funded the University of St Andrews, the University of Cambridge, [C]Worthy, and Submarine Scientific to address the three core technical bottlenecks slowing ocean alkalinity enhancement deployment: identifying scalable mineral feedstocks, preventing unwanted precipitation at the point of addition, and developing cheaper MRV tools. All four projects will publish open-access research outputs.
U.S. Bank enters the carbon removal market with its first CDR credit purchase from a Minnesota landfill biochar project
U.S. Bank has bought carbon removal credits from Carba, a Minneapolis-based startup operating at a Minnesota landfill — the first carbon removal purchase by a major US bank. Carba's reactors convert utility-trimmed wood chips into biochar using molten salts, burying the material underground for thousand-year permanence at under $100 per tonne. Microsoft is already purchasing 44,000 tonnes from the same project, which was the first to receive Isometric validation for biochar storage in low-oxygen environments.
Switzerland ships its first liquefied CO2 to Denmark in landmark cross-border BECCS commercial debut
Airfix, CO2 Energie AG, and South Pole have launched commercial operations at Switzerland's first integrated BECCS project, capturing up to 4,300 tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually from agricultural and food waste at Switzerland's largest biomethane plant. The liquefied CO2 is transported by truck, rail, and ship from Niederwil to Project Greensand's offshore storage site 1,800 metres beneath the North Sea — achieving 91.7% net removal efficiency across the entire supply chain. The project is the first non-Danish initiative to inject carbon at Greensand, and is backed by an $11.6 million credit pre-purchase agreement from the Climate Cent Foundation through 2030.
Verra's VCS Version 5 gains ICVCM Core Carbon Principles approval as voluntary carbon market integrity standards tighten
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market recognised Verra's Verified Carbon Standard Version 5 as CCP-Eligible on September 2, raising the baseline for carbon credit quality and transparency across the market. Buyers still need to verify methodology-level approval before applying the CCP label to specific credits.
UNEP report warns world will breach the 1.5°C global warming threshold but identifies a pathway back through CDR and deep emissions cuts
A new UNEP report, Limiting Overshoot, identifies an "overshoot, peak, and decline" pathway as the best remaining option for limiting the scale and duration of a 1.5°C breach. Returning below that threshold will require immediate greenhouse gas cuts including methane, a global net-zero trajectory, and long-term net-negative emissions delivered through carefully governed carbon dioxide removal. In the most optimistic scenario modelled, temperatures peak at 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels.
Avnos launches hybrid direct air capture operations at Project Brighton in New Jersey - its largest DAC deployment to date
Avnos has begun commercial operations at its Project Brighton site in Bridgewater, New Jersey, deploying its proprietary HDAC™ technology at a scale designed to capture 450 tonnes of atmospheric CO2 annually while also producing approximately 475,000 gallons of clean water per year - all without external heat input. The project was developed with US Office of Naval Research funding and supports Avnos' work on DAC-sourced CO2 for sustainable aviation fuel production. The company has raised over $100 million to date from backers including Mitsubishi, Shell, NextEra, ConocoPhillips, the US Department of Energy, and the US Department of Defense.
XPRIZE winner Mati Carbon partners with CGIAR to run enhanced rock weathering field trials across tropical smallholder farms
Mati Carbon has signed a five-year global MoU with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to design and publish independent field trials of enhanced rock weathering in tropical smallholder farming systems — regions where soils are older, more acidic, and more weathered than the temperate agricultural settings where most ERW evidence has so far been generated. The collaboration will assess whether crushed basalt can be responsibly scaled across diverse tropical crops and agroecological conditions, with findings published regardless of outcome.
Deep Sky One becomes the first direct air capture project to receive a pre-issuance carbon credit rating, scoring AAA-A from Sylvera
Sylvera has issued its first-ever pre-issuance rating for a DAC project, awarding Deep Sky One — one of the largest direct air capture facilities currently in development globally — an AAA-A score across carbon accounting, additionality, permanence, and delivery risk. The rating is designed to give buyers and investors an integrity signal before credits are issued, addressing a key barrier to financing large-scale, first-of-a-kind removal projects where offtake decisions must be made years ahead of operations.
Econetix signs million-dollar CORSIA carbon credit deal with RWE as aviation compliance deadline tightens
Carbon project developer Econetix has agreed to supply CORSIA-eligible carbon credits to European energy trader RWE Supply & Trading, as companies accelerate positioning ahead of the aviation scheme's first unit surrender deadline.
California finalises multi-year cap-and-invest overhaul as OAL approves updated ETS regulation
California's Office of Administrative Law approved the state's revised Cap-and-Invest regulation on August 31, sealing a major revamp of the programme and clearing the way for the next phase of the state's emissions trading scheme.
US federal court strikes down New York's climate superfund targeting fossil fuel companies
A federal court ruled New York's climate superfund law invalid on August 31, dealing a significant blow to the state's effort to hold fossil fuel companies financially responsible for climate damages — and setting a precedent with implications for similar legislation across the US.
Dutch government prepares to invest over €1 billion in carbon capture and storage infrastructure
The Netherlands is readying a major public investment in CCS, signalling accelerating commitment to CCUS deployment as Northern European storage infrastructure enters its build-out phase.
UK pledges £400 million loan to Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures fund, bringing TFFF close to $10 billion target
The UK government's commitment moves the fund within reach of its headline target, strengthening the financing pipeline for nature and carbon removal projects across developing markets.
Japanese DAC startup Planet Savers wins up to $2.1 million government grant to scale CO2-adsorbing materials for direct air capture
A Tokyo-based direct air capture company has been awarded government funding to develop and commercialise CO2-adsorbing materials, a meaningful signal of Japan's growing public investment in engineered carbon removal.
Oil and gas industry calls for three-year delay to EU methane import monitoring rules as 2027 deadline approaches
The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers has formally called on the EU to push back binding methane monitoring and reporting requirements for energy imports, arguing that the compliance infrastructure required under the Methane Regulation is not yet in place.
US biochar firm and Singapore asphalt producer sign MoU to pilot carbon-sequestering road infrastructure
Verde Resources and Highway International have agreed to test a biochar-based carbon platform for roads and infrastructure — an emerging application for durable CDR that could scale biochar deployment into the built environment.
Zambia and Switzerland authorise Article 6.2 carbon credit project covering 200,000 advanced cookstoves
The two countries have formally authorised a large-scale clean cooking initiative in Zambia under the Paris Agreement's Article 6.2 framework, adding to the growing pipeline of bilateral carbon trading agreements.
Superpollutants - methane, black carbon, and refrigerants - remain the fastest and most underused lever in the climate toolkit
A new analysis argues that cutting short-lived climate pollutants responsible for roughly half of current warming could avoid around 0.2°C of temperature rise by 2050, and describes them as an "emergency brake" on near-term warming while the deeper decarbonisation transition plays out.
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