Carbonfuture & MASH Makes Join Forces For 50,000t Of Carbon Removal
In what is likely to be the largest ever carbon removal purchase agreement to date, MRV platform and carbon credit marketplace Carbonfuture has partnered with Indo-Danish company MASH Makes to secure 50,000 tonnes of carbon removal. This marks a milestone in the rapid growth trajectory of the carbon removal market.
A major challenge faced by all carbon removal technologies is that to be considered truly effective and to have the required impact, they need to scale massively. Gigatonnes of carbon need to be removed from the atmosphere, and at present no single carbon removal solution is hitting these numbers. This sizable deal between Carbonfuture and MASH Makes is a big step in the right direction and shows that gigatonne removals are within reach in the long term.
The technology that MASH Makes has developed promises to play a role in achieving this goal of massive-scale carbon removal. Through a pilot project in Maharashtra (India), the company has refined a method where crop residues are used as feedstock for its fuel production process. These crop residues would otherwise have been burned in the open, directly emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Instead, this biomass is heated in a controlled environment through a well-established negative emissions approach called pyrolysis. This process not only powers the fuel production process, but also results in the carbon being sequestered as biochar. This biochar has a range of benefits beyond the long-term sequestration of carbon — it can also be used to help reinvigorate soils and improve water and nutrient retention.
For MASH Makes to effectively scale its operations and to sell carbon credits in the market, it needs to be able to accurately measure the amount of carbon it sequesters, and do so in a way that is transparent and trustworthy. This is where Carbonfuture’s expertise comes in — its fully digitized platform enables companies to monitor their carbon removal purchase in accordance with rigorous independent standards of MRV (Measurement/Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification). The resulting carbon removal credits can then be traded on Carbonfuture’s integrated marketplace.
The timing of this partnership is very apt — the severity of heatwaves in India worsens every year, and May 2022 saw temperatures as high as 49.2C. CEO of MASH Makes Jakob Andersen sees a multitude of benefits in the alliance: “Our unique concept elevates the importance of co-benefits to society, the environment, and the economy. Crucially, these should be local, regional and universal. We ensure this through our modular and decentralized approach to carbon removal – and thanks to Carbonfuture, we can be assured that the corresponding efforts are measured, monitored and third-party certified by the highest standards out there,” he said in a statement.
The unprecedented scope of this new partnership with MASH Makes will span several years, which speaks to the longevity of the carbon removal industry as a new factor in combating the ongoing climate crisis. The potential of carbon removal technology is not in dispute, and other reports such as the US government’s recent $4bn investment in CDR initiatives prove that this technology will be part of the climate action toolkit.
Hannes Junginger-Gestrich, CEO of Carbonfuture, recognizes the gravity of this milestone. “For us, and the nascent carbon removal sector, this deal with our trusted partner MASH Makes marks a big step. It represents all the values our company is built upon: transparent, science-based and trustworthy removal credits, delivering a new tier of quality to an emerging market we so desperately need. And all that not only without harming nature, people and planet, but by leaving them off a little better than we found them in the first place.”
The news comes off the back of a number of recent wins for Carbonfuture. It successfully raised €5.5 million to help accelerate its platform on a global scale, renewed its partnership with one of the world’s leading reinsurers, Swiss Re, to secure 17,000 tonnes of carbon removal, and has continued partnerships with partners like Microsoft. Elsewhere in the carbon removal space, Climeworks and Heirloom have also been attracting significant investment.
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