INTERVIEW: Exomad Green aims to capture 1 million mt/year CO2 by 2027: CEO

Exomad Green, a Bolivian forestry company and the world's largest biochar producer, aims to be the first carbon removal company to capture and certify 1 million mt/year of CO2.

The company currently removes 120,000 mtCO2e/year with its two facilities in Bolivia that use pyrolysis technology to turn sustainably and legally sourced hardwood residues into biochar. Construction is underway for a third facility, and two more sites are in the planning stages, according to the company's website.

"I think that being part of the engineered [carbon dioxide removal] market or technology-based CDR, biochar has the largest benefit compared to all the other technologies," Diego Justiniano, CEO of Exomad Green, said in an interview with Platts. "First of all, it's ready to be deployed right now, we have the current technology, and we don't need to invent something, or go through technology breakthroughs to actually make this solution scalable."

By locking away the carbon stored in plants through photosynthesis, Biochar production captures carbon from the atmosphere. The feedstock typically consists of agricultural waste, which is processed into CO2 that can be stored long-term in soil or construction materials. Exomad Green feedstock consists of sustainable forestry residues.

Exomad Green plans to capture 1 million mt of CDR across five facilities by 2027, Justiniano said. Exomad Green feedstock consists of sustainable forestry residues.

Exomad Green's biochar follows a three-stage process that ends with generating the carbon credit, starting with the collection of residue material from sustainable forestry residues produced by local sawmills, followed by the production of the physical biochar and third, the point the physical biochar is applied to a nearby application, which acts as the carbon sink and when the credit is generated, Justiniano said.

Previously, Microsoft signed a 10-year deal with Exomad Green for the removal of 1.24 million mt of CO2e through its biochar projects in Bolivia, marking the largest biochar removal agreement in terms of volume.

Platts assessed US biochar credits for current-year delivery at $149/mtCO2e on June 30. Pricing for long-term contracts has been quoted at a discount to spot transactions, with projects in Latin America and Africa also quoted at a discount to both the US and European projects, according to market sources.

Physical biochar has been seen as a complementary revenue stream to the sale of carbon credits, sources said.

Ensuring biomass waste is sustainably sourced

"So being that we have a competitive advantage on how we collect the biomass, we actually distribute [the physical biochar] to all the local community for free," Justiniano said on their positioning in the "sustainable forestry sector and the low cost of our operations."

The company distributes biochar to the community for free and applies it to the land when needed, particularly in indigenous communities and on smaller farms.

Bolivia implements sustainable forestry management with tracking systems that trace each tree back to its forest management plan, using unique identifiers for source traceability.

Exomad verifies that sawmills comply with local regulations, including operational licenses, forestry authority permits, and the prohibition of child labor. Justiniano said the oversight process ensures that the biomass meets the highest standards.

Audits are conducted every six months to confirm that raw materials come from sustainable forest management plans, along with third-party audits on operational sustainability, he added.

Exomad Greens' current projects are certified by the Puro.earth registry, with monitoring, reporting, and verification managed by Carbonfuture.

The MRV system enables customers to track where their purchased biochar credits have been applied, Justiniano said.

Biochar co-benefits

Co-benefits aligned with the UN sustainability goals are becoming key differentiators in the carbon removal sector, complementing traditional factors like methodology and price. Recognition of these co-benefits, particularly in tech removal segments, is still developing.

"Biochar has one particularity that none of the other carbon removal technologies have, which is the series of co-benefits, because we are not only capturing CO2, but we are permanently storing it or at least from centuries to millennia in this carbon-rich solution, which is biochar. And this serves as a natural enhancer for the soil or type of fertilizer for the soil," Justiniano said.

Research indicates that biochar can remediate soil by adsorbing organic and inorganic contaminants, reducing leaching into water systems. However, due to variations in properties, not all biochar types yield the same results.

Exomad's studies show biochar use in agriculture increases yields by 15% to 30%, particularly on degraded soils, thanks to the restoration of high organic matter, according to Justiniano.

Additionally, towns collecting biochar have seen health improvements. Justiniano noted that processing biomass safely reduces health risks, particularly respiratory diseases, which were prevalent when biomass was burned.

He said case studies reveal that local biochar production significantly benefits communities by improving soil healt, boosting crop yields, and mitigating health risks.

Biochar applications also enhance water retention in agriculture. With hundreds of billions of tons of biomass waste available globally, biochar can be produced from any organic residue, making it a versatile solution, Justiniano said.