Nature-Based

A blockbuster Sunday for carbon removal. Over $600 million in new CDR capital announced, a BECCS project targeting 500,000 tonnes per year, research showing we may need centuries of removal, and a materials science breakthrough that could reshape DAC economics. Plus the EU builds its first government CDR certification framework and biochar enters concrete. Today on CaptainDrawdown 🏭 A US Paper Mill Wants to Capture Half a Million Tonnes of CO₂ Per Year Svante Technologies advances a BECCS facility at a southeastern US paper mill targeting 500,000+ tonnes of biogenic CO₂ annually — more than 13× Climeworks’ Mammoth capacity. Paper mills are almost purpose-built for BECCS: biomass feedstock on-site, biogenic CO₂ in flue gas, and Svante’s solid sorbent rotary contactors could offer faster cycling and lower energy penalties than liquid solvent systems. Captured CO₂ heads to Gulf Coast geological storage. Still in feasibility, but if it reaches FID this becomes one of the largest CDR projects in the world. ...

Bregal Sphere, part of Bregal Investments, just committed up to $500 million to nature restoration company Imperative’s global pipeline of ecosystem restoration projects. That brings total capital earmarked for Imperative’s work to $1.25 billion. Half a billion dollars. For planting trees, restoring mangroves, and bringing degraded landscapes back to life. In Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This is the kind of capital flow that CDR has been waiting for. The Flagship: Spekboom in South Africa Imperative’s most advanced project is Beka Emva, a large-scale restoration of the degraded subtropical thicket biome in South Africa. The star of the show: Portulacaria afra, commonly known as spekboom. ...

Octopus Energy Generation just tripled down on grasslands as a carbon removal pathway. The renewable energy investor expanded its partnership with nature-based solutions provider Cultivo from $40 million to $100 million, adding $60 million to accelerate grassland regeneration and carbon removal across the United States. The numbers so far: 650,000+ acres of US grasslands enrolled — roughly the size of Rhode Island. Target: 9 million tonnes of CO₂ removal over 30 years. Cultivo says it’s on track to surpass 2 million acres this year. ...