Waste2Energies (tbc) is deploying a pilot-scale pyrolysis reactor in the Krishnagiri industrial corridor, Tamil Nadu, India, to convert agricultural residue into Puro.earth-grade biochar — a stable form of carbon that stores CO2 in soil for centuries. The pilot is the first step toward an on-chain dMRV (digital Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) pipeline that logs feedstock, process, and lab-verification data per batch, ahead of CORC (CO2 Removal Certificate) issuance via the Puro Standard.
Waste2Energies exists to turn a burning problem into a buried solution. Every tonne of Krishnagiri agricultural residue that goes into our reactor instead of a field fire is a tonne that stops contributing to India's residue-burning emissions and health burden — and instead becomes centuries-stable carbon storage, verified batch by batch, and accountable on an open ledger from feedstock to certificate.
Crop residue burning is one of India's largest and fastest-growing agricultural emissions sources, and a leading contributor to seasonal air pollution. A 2025 report co-published by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Carbon Removal India Alliance (CRIA) puts India's surplus biomass — crop residue left over after all other uses — at approximately 228 million tonnes generated each year, of which approximately 87 million tonnes are burned annually [1]. India ranks second globally in surplus biomass availability, and converting just 70% of that surplus into biochar could remove an estimated 0.4 gigatonnes of CO2 per year [1].
This burning is a measured, ongoing source of acute air pollution: a peer-reviewed adjoint-modeling study published in Nature Communications found that crop residue burning caused 44,000–98,000 PM2.5-related premature deaths annually across India between 2003 and 2019 [2]. Open burning also destroys the agronomic value of the residue itself — burning one tonne of rice straw releases nearly all of its carbon and causes a measured loss of approximately 5.5 kg of nitrogen and 2.3 kg of phosphorus that would otherwise return to the soil [1].
Sources:
[1] Unlocking Durable Carbon Removal for India's Clean Air Future — CII & Carbon Removal India Alliance (CRIA), October 2025: https://sustainabledevelopment.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CRIA-CII-issue-brief_121025_v4.pdf
[2] Air quality impacts of crop residue burning in India and mitigation alternatives — Lan, Eastham, Liu, Norford & Barrett, Nature Communications (2022): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34093-z
Waste2Energies converts agricultural residue from the Krishnagiri corridor into biochar using a Puro.earth-certified pyrolysis process, instead of letting that residue be burned in the open. Biochar locks carbon into a stable solid form that the Puro Standard's biochar methodology certifies for durable removal lasting at least 200 years, with the 2025 methodology update extending guaranteed durability to several centuries under the new CORC200+ framework [3]. Each CO2 Removal Certificate (CORC) issued under the Puro Standard certifies the net removal of one metric tonne of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere, independently audited at the production facility, with Puro.earth — not the supplier — covering the cost of verification [4].
The pilot pairs the physical reactor with a digital MRV layer: feedstock intake, reactor process data, and third-party lab assays are logged per batch, creating a transparent, auditable record ahead of CORC issuance. This is the same fundamentals-first model used by India's other operating biochar carbon-removal projects, including Varaha's biochar program (Bengaluru) and Takachar's decentralized reactor network, both of which sell Puro-aligned or equivalent durable carbon removal credits to corporate buyers [5][6].
Sources:
[3] Introduction to the updated methodology — Biochar Edition 2025, Puro.earth: https://puro.earth/insights/post/348-introduction-to-the-updated-methodology-biochar-edition-2025/
[4] The Puro Standard for carbon removal — Puro.earth: https://puro.earth/cdr-infrastructure/methodologies/puro-standard/
[5] Varaha — biochar program overview: https://www.varaha.earth/
[6] Takachar — MIT-spinoff decentralized biochar reactor network, XPRIZE Carbon Removal finalist: https://www.xprize.org/news/20-teams-bring-cutting-edge-solutions-to-xprize-carbon-removal-finals
Waste2Energies generates revenue from two linked product streams produced by the same pyrolysis process: CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) and biochar itself. CORC sales. Once a batch is verified under the Puro Standard, each CORC represents one certified tonne of CO2 removed and can be sold to corporate buyers seeking durable, audited carbon removal [4]. Pricing is public and tracked by the Nasdaq/Puro.earth CORC Biochar Price Index (CORCCHAR), which showed prices of approximately €125–€145 per tonne through 2025 [7]. Buyers in this market include large corporates already purchasing biochar-based removal at scale — for example, Google's 100,000-tonne biochar carbon removal agreement with Varaha [5]. Biochar product sales. The same reactor output that earns CORCs is also a sellable physical product: biochar is applied directly to soil as an amendment, where it improves water retention and nutrient availability while keeping its sequestered carbon stable for centuries [3]. This gives the business a second, non-carbon-market revenue line — sold locally to farms and agricultural buyers in the Krishnagiri corridor — that is not dependent on carbon credit demand or pricing. Feedstock is the agricultural residue itself, sourced from a region where it is otherwise burned at no cost to the project and at a net cost to local air quality and soil health [1][2]. Sources: [7] The Buyer's Guide to Biochar Carbon Removal — Senken, citing Nasdaq/Puro.earth CORCCHAR index: https://www.senken.io/academy/biochar
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