Summit Carbon Solutions, developer of the world’s largest carbon removal project, has signed a multi-year agreement to sell Carbon Dioxide Removal credits (CDRs) to the NextGen CDR Facility (NextGen), according to a news release.
In total, NextGen announced the purchase of 193,000 tons of CDRs from three projects, including a leading U.S. direct air capture project and a Finnish biochar manufacturer, making this one of the largest CDR transactions to date.
NextGen is a joint venture between South Pole and the Mitsubishi Corporation, and backed by founding buyers Boston Consulting Group, LGT, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Swiss Re, and UBS. NextGen is creating one of the world’s largest diversified portfolios of CDRs, with plans to purchase over one million tons of CDRs by 2025. The CDRs must be from large-scale technical carbon removal projects and certified under standards endorsed by the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA).
Even with multi-megaton-scale projects like Summit Carbon Solutions, demand for ICROA certified technical CDRs will exceed the available supply for years into the future,” said Jim Pirolli, chief commercial officer at Summit Carbon Solutions.
To meet these stringent requirements, Summit Carbon Solutions has developed a methodology for Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS), currently under review with Gold Standard for the Global Goals. Gold Standard is the leading global registry through which CDRs are verified and generated to ensure project quality and sustainable development goals are met under ICROA standards.
“Our continuing work with Gold Standard on the BiCRS methodology will accelerate the adoption of additional CCS methodologies across the global carbon registries,” said Ben Nelson, Director of Carbon Programs at Summit Carbon Solutions. “This first CDR sale to NextGen will catalyze our project as well as others that can meet these standards, and we look forward to working with climate leaders throughout the global carbon removal marketplace.”
“NextGen’s ambition to scale the CDR market has taken a major step forward following the initial purchase commitments from three projects, which puts us on a clear pathway to realize our target of 1M durably stored tons of CO2 by 2030. Each project has had to satisfy our requirements to realize significant climate impact in the near term, and quality requirements to meet independent certification standards,” says Philip Moss, global director of Tech Carbon Removals at South Pole, and chairman of the board, NextGen CDR. “Summit Carbon Solutions, the world’s largest technological CDR project, is providing critical infrastructure at scale needed to support the build out of the carbon removal industry in the USA, and we look forward to seeing the successful implementation to reduce historic emissions and help limit the growing impacts of climate change.”
“At Summit Carbon Solutions, we believe in the positive impact sustainable growth will have on people, communities, and climate security for future generations,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. “People notice when you do the right things the right way for the right reasons. For instance, we were introduced to The Gold Standard and NextGen because we are building a large CCS project, but the partnerships solidified because of our commitment to hold ourselves to the highest standards now and into the future. Similar to how we take extra care to build and operate according to the sustainable development goals, this is more than a CDR sales transaction; it is a long-term commitment by all parties to leave the planet better than we found it.”
