German climate-tech company Novocarbo has raised €25 million ($27M) in growth funding to establish a pan-European infrastructure network for its net zero solution. Partnering with a French investor, Novocarbo aims to launch Carbon Removal Parks across Europe to drive decarbonization.
SWEN Capital Partners, a prominent European infrastructure firm, is backing Novocarbo’s mission to remove 1 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030. Novocarbo’s funding milestone represents one of the largest CDR investments in Europe in recent years.
With support from SWEN Capital Partners’ SWEN Impact Fund for Transition 2, Novocarbo plans to expand its Carbon Removal Parks network across the continent.
Novocarbo’s Carbon Removal Parks: A Pan-European Climate Solution
Novocarbo specializes in constructing and operating Carbon Removal Parks, integrating multiple climate actions:
- Extracting CO2 from the atmosphere,
- Generating renewable energy, and
- Producing biochar, a sustainable carbon material.
Through Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) technology, these parks produce climate-neutral heat. This biomass-produced heat offers a pathway for companies and municipalities to decarbonize their energy supply.
What is BCR?
BCR is a carbon removal method that uses carbon stored in biomass, obtained through photosynthesis, to extract carbon from the atmosphere.
Biomass, which comprises organic residues, undergoes a high-temperature heating process in the absence of oxygen, known as pyrolysis. During this conversion, the organic compounds in the biomass are thermally decomposed, with volatile components transitioning into the gas phase.
The residual carbon is left in the form of biochar, a solid substance that is easily storable. This process can produce a range of products, including biochar and renewable energy.
Novocarbo’s Carbon Removal Parks, which combine CO2 removal with green heat generation, play a dual role in achieving net-zero emissions. Since its establishment in 2017, the Hamburg-based startup has launched three Carbon Removal Parks in Germany and expanded its team to over 35 employees.
Novocarbo boasts one of Europe’s largest distribution networks for biochar soil conditioners and has attracted corporate clients like Bayer and Swiss Re through its pioneering carbon projects and carbon removal credit trading.
Recently, Novocarbo secured 3 long-term carbon credit agreements totaling over 8,000 tonnes of CO2.
With the new funding, the company will expand its BCR solution further, offering a vital means of mitigating climate change. It will enable the company to scale up to 200 parks by 2033, bolstering Europe’s CDR and green heating infrastructure.
Advancing CDR as a Net Zero Solution
With SWEN CP onboard, Novocarbo gains a strategic partner to establish impactful net zero infrastructure across Europe. SWEN CP is known for its mission-driven investment approach focused on addressing environmental challenges.
As an impact fund with a clear sustainability objective, SWEN CP seeks to accelerate the transition to renewable energies and now, by investing in Novocarbo, aims to incorporate carbon removal solutions into its portfolio for the first time.
While reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains crucial in combating climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes that deploying CDR is essential to offsetting hard-to-abate emissions and achieving net zero emissions. The recent approval of the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) underscores the importance of scaling CDR technologies to meet climate targets.
Biochar is a rapidly growing carbon removal sector, attracting significant investments and purchases from large companies. In 2023, it accounts for more than 90% of all CDR deliveries.
Last year, a Canadian biochar company secured $38 million in a Series B round to expand its production. Days ago, Shell agreed to buy biochar removal credits from a Mexico-based biochar producer.
Caspar von Ziegner, CEO Novocarbo, highlighted the role of biochar removal in mitigating climate change, saying that:
“Our only chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees is by unlocking the full potential of impactful net zero technologies like Biochar Carbon Removal… to bring hard-to-abate industries onto the much-needed net-zero path. Right here, right now, because the climate can’t wait.”
Novocarbo’s $27 million funding milestone speaks of a significant step in Europe’s climate mitigation efforts. Its Carbon Removal Parks, powered by BCR technology, could lead the charge in combatting climate change and achieving net zero.