Carbon Removal News - December 10
Hydrogen-ready gas turbines; Iceland partners with ICR; Gold Standard approved for CORSIA Phase 1; Denmark will convert 10% land area to forests;
In this newsletter
SSE & Siemens to develop hydrogen-ready turbines
Iceland partners with International Carbon Registry
Gold Standard approved for CORSIA Phase 1
Denmark will convert 10% land area into nature & forests
What motivates corporates to fund CDR?
Carbon startups and funding
Reports
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SSE & Siemens to develop hydrogen-ready turbines
UK-based SSE Plc and Siemens Energy have launched 'Mission H2 Power', a multi-million-pound collaboration to develop gas turbine technology capable of running on 100% hydrogen at SSE's Keadby 2 Power Station in North Lincolnshire. The project will see Siemens Energy develop a combustion system for its SGT5-9000HL gas turbine that can operate on 100% hydrogen while maintaining flexibility to run on natural gas or any blend of the two. Additional testing facilities will be constructed at Siemens Energy's Clean Energy Centre in Berlin.
Iceland partners with International Carbon Registry
Iceland's Land and Forest Government Agency has chosen to transition its climate initiatives to the International Carbon Registry's (ICR) GHG program. The collaboration includes development of validated methodologies for afforestation based on the Skógarkolefni (Icelandic Forest Standard) and a methodology for Rewetting of Peatlands, both aligned with the ISO 14064-2 standard. The peatland methodology will soon be available for a 30-day public consultation.
Gold Standard approved for CORSIA Phase 1
Gold Standard has been approved as an eligible program for the first phase (2024-2026) of ICAO's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The organization has published new guidance for project developers to sell eligible Gold Standard-certified credits under the scheme - credits will require Article 6 authorization from the project's host country to be eligible for use in the first phase.
The Gold Standard Impact Registry has introduced new functionality to label and filter Gold Standard VERs eligible for 'CORSIA Phase 1'.
Denmark will convert 10% land area into nature & forests
(November 18, translated from Danish)
Denmark has announced a comprehensive green transition agreement that will transform approximately 10% of the country's total area into nature and forest by 2045. The agreement was reached between the government (Social Democrats, Left Party, and Moderates) and several other political parties.
The land transformation includes converting 140,000 hectares of carbon-rich lowland soils, establishing 250,000 hectares of new forest, and designating 100,000 hectares as untouched forest. The agreement aims to achieve Denmark's 70% emission reduction target and a binding reduction target of 55-65% for the agriculture and forestry sector by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The agreement allocates significant funding, including 420 million DKK to the Fund for Plant-based Foods (2025-2030), 50 million DKK for expanding 15 national nature parks (2026-2030), and a total investment of approximately 32 billion DKK for the period 2025-2030, with additional funding extending to 2045.
A key element of the agreement is making land conversion the main driver for achieving Water Framework Directive goals. The implementation includes establishing new regulatory models, strengthening local engagement through coastal water councils, and creating Denmark's Green Area Fund to support forest establishment, permanent extensification, and wetland development.
What motivates Corporates to fund CDR?
The BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, in collaboration with remove and ETH Zurich's Sustainability in Business Lab (sus.lab), has published a comprehensive report analyzing Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) adoption strategies based on interviews with 14 corporate sustainability leads from publicly listed companies.
The study reveals that in 2023, purchases of durable CDR credits increased by 7.3 times compared to 2022, reaching 4.5 million tons. The research identified six essential building blocks for organizations to develop successful CDR strategies: creating awareness, addressing risks, exploring business opportunities, sourcing budgets, onboarding business units, and obtaining CEO approval.
The interviewed organizations range from companies with 1,000 to 100,000 employees, generating profits from hundreds of millions to billions of euros. Their CDR purchases varied from several hundred tons to approximately 100,000 tons, with biochar and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) being the dominant methods.
The report emphasizes that organizations are implementing internal carbon pricing mechanisms to secure long-term CDR budgets. Key business units involved in CDR strategy development include Finance, Legal, Procurement, Communications, and C-level executives.
The study concludes that while there are currently no regulatory requirements for CDR procurement, early adopters are driven by strategic foresight and long-term business opportunities.
Carbon Startups and Funding
Germany-based goodcarbon has received a EUR 1 million investment from Hivos-Triodos Fonds to support its nature-based solutions platform. The company currently manages 20 audited projects and is developing six exclusive Originals projects that will sequester over 10 million tonnes of CO2, including projects like coastal mangrove restoration in Gujarat, India and the conversion of 1,100 hectares of degraded land into species-rich forests in Panama.
German non-profit atmosfair has partnered with PyroCCS' subsidiary PyroNam to implement high-tech industrial biochar carbon removal projects in Namibia. The initial project at Nog Verder Farm near Otjiwarongo will generate 1,000 tons of biochar annually, storing over 2,000 tons CO2 equivalents through soil application, with certification expected by February 2025. The project will use FSC-certified 'Savanna Ecosystem Restoration' plans for harvesting encroaching bush species as feedstock. PyroCCS aims to scale to 400 plants in Namibia by 2030, targeting 5,000,000 tons of CO2 equivalent sequestration annually across their global operations.
Canada-based CarbonRun is a startup that restores river health and removes atmospheric carbon by adding crushed limestone to acidified rivers, converting COâ‚‚ into stable bicarbonate. Rivers worldwide have been damaged by acidification, which disrupts natural carbon cycles and harms marine ecosystems, also releasing more COâ‚‚ into the atmosphere. CarbonRun uses automated limestone dosers to de-acidify rivers, allowing them to naturally convert COâ‚‚ into bicarbonate that gets transported to oceans for long-term storage. This stores carbon and improves water quality and marine biodiversity.
Biosorra transforms agricultural waste into biochar in Kenya, combining carbon removal with regenerative farming education and support.
Small-scale farmers in the region face challenges with soil fertility and rely heavily on expensive chemical fertilizers, while crop waste is often burned inefficiently.
Biosorra’s patented technology converts local agricultural waste into industrial biochar through pyrolysis, which both sequesters carbon and serves as a natural fertilizer, creating a circular economy that benefits local farmers while fighting climate change.
Reports
Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have released a joint study identifying shipping as a key enabler for cross-border Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Sequestration (CCUS) initiatives in Asia Pacific. The study projects that APAC will require 85-150 liquefied CO2 carriers of 50 kt capacity by 2050 to transport approximately 100 MtPA of CO2 across national borders, with total vessel investments reaching USD 25 billion.
Consolidated by Soumya Gupta (Twitter, LinkedIn).
