NETZERO

XPRIZE TRACK
LAND

CDR PATHWAY(S)
Land - Thermal conversion of biomass (biochar)

PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
Biochar, Energy

FOUNDED
2021

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NetZero
Paris, France
netzero.green/en

Olivier Reinaud
[email protected]

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

NetZero’s mission is to bring at scale biochar as both a climate and agricultural solution. We focus exclusively on the immense volumes of unused crop residues available in the tropics, and leverage our own technology of mid-size, automated, highly optimized, and easily replicable pyrolysis plants. We operate an end-to-end model based on a fully circular approach, with local farmers being both our suppliers of biomass and clients of biochar, facilitating logistics, traceability, and local buy-in.

CORE INNOVATION

We are one of the very few integrated biochar players, controlling all project steps: from biomass collection to biochar distribution, from equipment design to factory assembly, along a highly cost-efficient model. We operate a decentralized model in the tropics, going close to biomass sources and exclusively using crop residues as feedstock. We process this biomass in mid-size, automated, and remotely monitored facilities, then returning the biochar to the same farmers who supply us the feedstock.

CO2 CAPTURE

CO2 is captured as hydrocarbons through photosynthesis in crop residues.

CO2 SEQUESTRATION

We extract and stabilize the carbon contained in the crop residues through pyrolysis, with average heating temperature above 600‚ÑÉ, forming biochar. The biochar is then applied as a soil amendment to nearby agricultural fields, thus sequestering the carbon over geological timescales.

CO-BENEFITS OR PRODUCTS

Our model is designed to maximize co-benefits beyond carbon removal. By using our biochar as a soil amendment in the tropics, where it is most efficient, we significantly improve farmers’ standard of living, bringing higher yields, lower expenses on fertilizers, and better resilience of crop to extreme weather events. We also create well-paid industrial jobs in rural areas of developing countries and co-generate renewable energy usable locally. At a global level, our model allows to reduce the carbon footprint of crop farming through lower use of fertilizers – a key challenge in decarbonizing agri-supply chains.