Terraton Turns Kenyan Nut Shells Into Carbon Credits

Terraton, a San Francisco-based biochar platform, has issued its first verified carbon removal credits. They come from EcoFix Kenya, a nut processor in Nanyuki. Registry Isometric issued them in October 2026, 14 months after Terraton's investment decision. Terraton also signed agreements covering up to 97,240 tonnes of carbon removal and secured $1.5 million in debt.

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How Did Terraton Go From Investment to Credits in 14 Months?

Terraton moved EcoFix Kenya from final investment decision to issued credits in 14 months. The company made its decision in August 2025, started producing biochar in May 2026 and received credits in October 2026.

The facility runs on nut shells that EcoFix already collects through its processing line. The biochar line required no change to the core business. Terraton designed and financed the site, then installed the equipment and sensors.

The biochar has a second life on farms. It raises pH in acidic tropical soils, and it is a key ingredient in high-quality compost. Terraton says that matters as fertilizer and fuel supply chains face disruption.

What Do the 97,240-Tonne Buyer Agreements Actually Cover?

Terraton's agreements cover up to 97,240 tonnes of carbon removal across five buyers (Terraton, October 2026). The total mixes committed purchases, reserved volumes and marketing rights, so it is not 97,240 tonnes already sold and delivered.

Climeworks Solutions, the carbon removal sourcing arm of Swiss direct air capture company Climeworks, committed to 2,000 tonnes from EcoFix. It reserved a further 14,000 tonnes from future Terraton facilities.

Climate Impact Partners, a carbon market solutions provider, signed committed purchases from EcoFix, the second Kenya site and future facilities. Other deals came from Carbonfuture, a carbon removal trust infrastructure provider, nonprofit fund Terraset and London-based removal platform CUR8.

Buyer	Agreement Type	Volume
Climeworks Solutions	Committed purchase from EcoFix, plus reserved volume from future facilities	2,000 tonnes committed, 14,000 tonnes reserved
Climate Impact Partners	Committed purchases from EcoFix, Tupande and facilities in development	Not disclosed
Carbonfuture	Partnership to bring credits to market through 2031	Up to 32,500 tonnes
Terraset	Seven-year offtake from future facilities	Up to 14,000 tonnes
CUR8	Purchase for a global consumer brand	240 tonnes

Terraset's new deal builds on a six-figure pre-purchase it announced in July 2025. Its seven-year offtake sets annual purchase volumes in advance, which gives projects still in development a long-term source of demand.

How Were Terraton's First Credits Verified?

Isometric, a carbon removal registry, issued the credits after a data-driven verification process. Terraton's facility software collected production data and sent it to Offstream, a Denver-based digital MRV provider.

Offstream ran accounting and quality checks. It then submitted thousands of data files to Isometric. The same registry recently handled Mombak's first enhanced weathering credits.

Isometric is accredited by ICROA, CORSIA and ICVCM. It also anchors Deduci's all-U.S. carbon removal portfolio. David Armstrong, Isometric's Partnerships Manager, said the EcoFix issuance marks the start of regular issuances.

Terraton plans to cut development time for its next sites to ten months. It will do that by standardizing financing, design, equipment, operating procedures and data collection from EcoFix.

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How Is Terraton Financing More Facilities?

Terraton secured $1.5 million in debt from HSBC Ventures to fund facility development over the next two years. The deal follows its $11.5 million seed round, co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Gigascale Capital in August 2025.

The company is also developing a $25 million pooled financing vehicle. It is designed to support about 20 additional biochar facilities. Every site uses the same design, equipment and reporting. That lets the fund underwrite facilities as one portfolio, across operators and countries.

Portfolio-style lending is gaining ground across carbon removal. Earlier examples include UNDO's carbon removals debt deal and Aviva's carbon removal fund.

What Comes After EcoFix?

Terraton's second facility is already being commissioned in Sagana, Kenya. It is built with Tupande, the Kenyan brand of One Acre Fund, a nonprofit serving smallholder farmers. Isometric says it looks forward to working with Terraton on Tupande.

Terraton has signed 28 MOUs for future facilities. More than 30 additional sites are in development across Africa, South America, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Each will copy the EcoFix design.

A Repeatable Blueprint for Biochar Removal

Biochar already leads carbon removal volumes. It delivered more than 250,000 tonnes of removals in 2024, more than any other approach (ESG Post, August 2025).

Terraton's bet is that copying one proven site design can grow that supply faster. Other developers are scaling too, such as BluSky Carbon's $105 million biochar deal in Arkansas. Durable removal buyers keep signing long deals, including Graphyte's 60,000-tonne agreement with JPMorganChase.

The next milestone to watch is Tupande. Its first issuance would show whether Terraton's standardized model shortens the path from waste to verified credits.

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