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The Next 150, has signed a 6-year purchase agreement with Microsoft to supply 95,000 tons of high-quality Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) credits produced by its General Biochar Systems (GBS) business unit’s first biochar plant in Guanajuato, Mexico. This agreement with Microsoft contributes to The Next 150 becoming a top supplier in the emerging carbon removal industry.
“Securing multi-year commitments like the one with Microsoft allows The Next 150 to mobilize large-scale biochar projects across Latin America, by attracting institutional finance for project-level lending, backed by creditworthy offtakes.” Stated Patrick Atanasije Pineda, Managing Partner at The Next 150.
“Our 6-year purchase agreement and ongoing collaboration with The Next 150 is a step forward towards our ambition to realize our carbon negative by 2030 goal via a diversified portfolio of carbon removal,” commented Brian Marrs, Senior Director for Energy and Carbon Removal at Microsoft.
The Next 150 is a Swiss climate-forward venture developer and operator founded in late 2022. In less than a year, its first biochar production facility, General Biochar Systems in Mexico, was up and running. By October 2023 the project began integrating its biochar into state-run quarry rehabilitation efforts to restore degraded landscapes and enhance biodiversity. Ongoing work with local governments and civil society organizations aims to supply up to 23,000 local farmers with biochar as a sustainable and regenerative soil amendment, bringing additional co-benefits such as improved crop yields, reduced reliance on chemical fertilizers, and decreased plant stress during prolonged drought.
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The company is on track to deliver high-quality CDR credits by mid-2024 on the Puro.Earth registry. Two more plants are expected to be operational in Latin America by 2025.