A Cornwall-based biochar developer, Restord, has secured a 1 million pound commercial loan from Oxbury Bank. This deal was made possible by the Green Finance Institute's Carbon Dioxide Removal Catalyst, which uses philanthropic capital to lower risk for commercial lenders. The project focuses on sequestering 2,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. It represents a shift in the UK carbon removal sector, moving projects away from a reliance on grants and toward bankable, revenue-generating business models.
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Restord got a 1m loan for biochar. It is part of a GFI push to make CDR projects bankable instead of just relying on grants. Worth a look if you follow carbon removal finance.
The mention of Carbon Contracts for Difference is the real signal here. Without a guaranteed floor price or government procurement, these commercial loans will always need philanthropic risk buffers to happen.
2,000 tonnes a year is a start, but the scale is tiny compared to the 21.8 million tonne target for 2035. How many of these small scale plants actually need to be built to move the needle?
The supply chain part is interesting. Bringing in a waste management firm and a tech provider helps, but the labor for maintaining these pyrolysers in rural areas is usually where the cost creeps up.
