Biochar Market Tightens Sharply in 2026 as Buyers Lock In 81% of High-Quality Supply Before Spot Season

Corporate buyers are moving faster than ever to secure biochar carbon removal credits, and the numbers back it up. A new market intelligence report from Supercritical shows that 81% of high-quality biochar supply was already committed by July 2026, a threshold that wasn't reached until October in 2025. That's a three-month acceleration, and it's reshaping what's available for spot buyers in the second half of the year.

The report, titled The Biochar Supply Crunch: Market Intelligence for H2 2026, draws on Supercritical's proprietary supply database and transaction data from CDR.fyi to map what's left on the market, what qualifies as high-quality, and what pricing looks like for late-entering spot buyers.

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Offtakes Are Driving the Crunch

Total biochar sales nearly doubled year-over-year, climbing from 1.59 million tonnes in H1 2025 to 2.99 million tonnes in H1 2026. The real story, though, is what's underneath that figure. Excluding Microsoft, the rest of the market grew more than fivefold. Non-Microsoft offtake volume jumped from 176,000 tonnes to 1.81 million tonnes, a nearly tenfold increase in a single year. Spot purchases, meanwhile, fell 54%.

The shift signals something structural. As the biochar market matures, larger buyers are moving away from one-off purchases toward multi-year procurement. That locks in supply early and leaves fewer credits available for companies that wait until Q4 to buy.

Part of that acceleration is tied to compliance timelines. The Science Based Targets initiative's Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2 will require permanent carbon removal from 2035, ramping to 100% of residual emissions. Companies building toward that target are locking in supply years ahead of the deadline. In Europe, the Carbon Removal Certification Framework formally certified biochar as permanent removal in February 2026, and EU buyers watching developments in the Emissions Trading System have started moving earlier too.

What's Left, and What It Costs

Supercritical evaluated 119 biochar projects across industrial, distributed, and artisanal production types. Only 13 passed its 118-point vetting protocol, which covers feedstock provenance, carbon stability, additionality, methane monitoring, and delivery track record. Of the high-quality supply that remains uncommitted, 46% is accessible exclusively through Supercritical's marketplace, from four vetted projects across India and Bolivia. Active enterprise requests for proposals could claim 70% of what's left.

Pricing follows seasonal patterns. Credits from the same project that sold at $155 per tonne in July 2025 reached $185 by November. Buyers who move earlier pay less and have more choice. Distributed biochar typically comes in around $150 per tonne compared to $165 for industrial-scale production, reflecting lower production costs rather than lower quality.

Biochar's Lead in the CDR Market

Biochar has delivered more than twice the volume of all other permanent carbon dioxide removal methods combined, and it remains the only pathway with a liquid spot market. Among the high-quality projects Supercritical has secured for 2026 is Exomad Green in Bolivia, the world's largest biochar project by deliveries, along with three India-based projects: a distributed network from Varaha verified by Isometric, a project from Ground Up with credits already issuing through Isometric, and a large-scale industrial producer currently pending announcement.

The Supercritical report advises spot buyers to move before Q4, apply independent vetting beyond registry certification, and plan procurement beyond 2026. The supply crunch, the report notes, is not a one-off. Each year, a larger share of high-quality supply is committed before spot season even begins.

About Supercritical

Supercritical is a London-based carbon removal marketplace that helps corporate buyers design, source, and deliver durable CDR portfolios. The company applies a 118-point scientific vetting protocol, led by Director of Climate Science Dr. Mai Bui, rejecting 88% of projects assessed. Supercritical has facilitated nearly 2 million tonnes of carbon removal for 200+ buyers and tracks more than 600 suppliers across 80% of the global durable CDR market. Its science team advises SBTi on CDR standards.

Source: Supercritical, "The Biochar Supply Crunch: Market Intelligence for H2 2026," September 2026