Bolivian biochar producer Exomad Green has started building a 128,000 t/yr biochar production plant in the country's Guarayos region, which it expects to achieve 320,000 t/yr of CO2 removal (CDR) once fully operational.
The facility will be developed in two phases. Half of the total capacity will be developed in phase one, which is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2026, with the second phase expected to start in 2026. Exomad did not provide a timeline for the scheduled end of the latter phase.
The firm plans to distribute biochar to indigenous communities and farmers to restore degraded soils, enhance food production and improve resilience to climate stress, through its "biochar donation program" it said, without specifying what share of the end product would be allocated for this program.
Exomad signed a 10-year biochar CDR agreement with technology giant Microsoft to remove 1.24mn t of CO2 in late May. The contract has embedded digital monitoring, reporting and verification carried by Germany-based Carbonfuture to enable third-party verification and certification under crediting platform Puro.earth's biochar methodology.
The parties had previously also signed a deal for 32,000t of biochar CDR credits in December 2023.
Exomad estimates it had sequestered over 120,000t of CO2 by April through its biochar operations.
The firm already operates two biochar plants in Concepcion and Riberalta, each with 60,000 t/yr of capacity. The company uses hardwood forestry residues as feedstock to produce biochar with up to 86pc fixed carbon content through pyrolysis.
Exomad Green is a unit of Exomad, which is the largest wood exporter in Bolivia.
