Quantum Commodity Intelligence – A Singapore-based company that focuses on bioenergy projects is linking up with a US manufacturer of equipment used for pyrolysis that turns organic matter into biochar and green feedstock for lower carbon transport fuels.
Alcom Carbon Markets said Thursday that the formation of a joint venture with India-based TAPI Healthcare Lifestyle (TAPI) would enable the scale-up of the Singaporean biochar producer’s global portfolio of biochar projects, and potentially a form of ethanol for use in marine and aviation biofuels.
The tie-up aims “to overcome a lack of quality technology providers that has until now held up the development of biochar projects”, the companies said in a joint press release.
The collaboration would also enable the end product to meet industry standards used in the voluntary carbon market and create additional revenue streams for projects, the companies said.
“The collaboration will ensure that projects meet tough industry standards such as the European Biochar Certificate (EBC), and removals standard/registry Puro.Earth, which allows the generation of high-quality carbon removal credits,” they added.
TAPI’s head of technology Anil Sakhiya said the partnering with Alcom will further the US company’s research and development capabilities and advance its pyrolysis technology – including innovations in the pyrolysis process – such as extracting hydrogen from syngas as a clean energy source and then using that green feedstock for the production of various synthetic oils.
Biochar is a carbon-rich solid material produced by heating biomass wastes, such as from wood and agriculture industries, at high temperatures in an oxygen-limited process through ‘pyrolysis’.
US think tank Rocky Mountain Institute last year estimated that biochar and similar technologies, have the potential to remove 5.5 gigatons of CO2 globally per year.
The biochar carbon credit market saw trades of about 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, according to brokers, making it the largest carbon dioxide removals market at the time of writing, but small by comparison with avoidance carbon credits.
