1. VIABLE BUSINESS MODELS

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Biochar is ready to scale, but how do we make the business case stick? With commercialisation still in its early stages, our biochar community are currently exploring three core revenue streams: biochar sales into agriculture and hard-to-abate sectors, carbon credits as a long-term value driver, and thermal energy as a valuable co-product. Investor confidence is also critical to unlocking growth and deployment.

 

But what’s the real cost bearer? For some, it’s technology itself and the challenge of closing the cost gap. Others are focused on securing reliable carbon credit offtakes, which will be equally vital to building a business model that works.

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2. STRUCTURING CARBON CREDIT OFFTAKES

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The carbon credit market faces a complex supply versus demand challenge: buyers need credits to unlock financing but can’t finance without them. Many seek spot credits and clear offtake agreements, while sellers must find committed customers willing to invest upfront and secure contracts to raise funding.

 

The big question is: how do we structure offtakes so they work for both sides?

 

A few things matter:

• Finding buyers who are prepared to commit upfront, not just window-shop.

• Giving real weight to co-benefits also: soil health, waste management, community benefits

• If biochar credits hold or increase in value, corporates will be incentivised to start buying. A serious market entry focusing on maintaining price levels could unlock an exciting opportunity for scale, investment, and long-term demand.
   

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3. EXPLORING GLOBAL FEEDSTOCKS

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Securing affordable biochar feedstock is a critical challenge, especially in regions where residue wood is limited and large-scale managed forests can't supply everything needed, particularly if full certification is required. Feedstock pricing remains a key constraint, and policy complexity adds another layer: whereby some national regulations are notably more restrictive than broader EU frameworks, creating friction for project development. To unlock supply, and build a biochar market, it's essential to engage feedstock holders directly as many are sitting on untapped biomass potential and exploring their role in driving new value streams and drive scalable biochar deployment.

 

Meanwhile, questions around biochar transportation persist, and if certain regulations were lifted, it could open up new opportunities for biochar export to Europe.

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4. FINDING RELIABLE AND EFFICIENT BIOCHAR MACHINERY

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Finding reliable machinery remains a challenge for the global biochar market and finding the right partner for large scale industrial projects. Our community highlights that technology and raw material compatibility is also essential to scaling effectively. Each industrial user has different technical requirements, and engineers must tailor the carbon input to match thermal processes, emissions, and power capacity. Technology experts are therefore looking to source the right raw material basket (including their carbon) and identifying how this reacts with other material, as small changes in feedstock can impact efficiency, dust control, and product quality.

 

Engagement and collaboration with technical teams is important to define the right parameters. New carbon materials are emerging for metallurgy, concrete, asphalt, and beyond, but success depends on aligning the right feedstock with the right technology.

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5. CLOSING THE FUNDING GAP

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How can companies get projects off the ground? Financing remains a major hurdle, requiring project economics, reliable feedstock, and credible offtake agreements. Yet even with pilot projects, proof of concept, high-quality biochar, validated small carbon credits, and strong organic content, many in our community still face finance volatility.

Funding pathways exist — from equity and debt to forward credit purchases — with interest from corporates, commodity houses, development banks, family offices, and accelerator funds. But for projects to move forward, financiers need to clarify their requirements: minimum ticket sizes, offtake structures, buyer profiles, and insurance expectations.

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To bridge this gap, we’re bringing investors into the community to help define what’s needed to unlock financing, de-risk agreements, and align developers and buyers on the commitments involved.

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Thank you to our community for collaborating on the above and their insights on the market. These priorities will be discussed in detail at the upcoming Global Biochar Commercialisation Summit (3-4 March 2026, IET London: Savoy Place, UK). 

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Contact bryony@theenergyhuddle.com for more information

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