[Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Varaha.]
Carbon project developer Varaha believes its latest initiative will go far in making smallholder farmers “part of the solution” when it comes to removing significant amounts of carbon.
The New Delhi, India-based startup has sold 100,000 credits to Google in what it says is the world’s largest carbon dioxide removal (CDR) offtake agreement for industrial biochar.
The deal underscores demand for biochar as an agricultural input and “sends the signal” that smallholder farmers are valuable partners when it comes to carbon removal projects, Varaha cofounder and CEO Madhur Jain tells AgFunderNews. The hope is that the deal also inspires similar initiatives globally.
“It’s not just about being the largest deal in the category,” says Jain. “It’s about doing [carbon removal projects] with a company that works directly with smallholder farmers, which face livelihood challenges on a daily basis. This deal with Google sends the signal that smallholder farmers can actually be part of the solution of removing carbon at massive scale.”
From biochar to carbon credits and beyond
Founded in 2022 by Jain, Ankita Garg (COO) and Vishal Kuchanur (CTO), Varaha develops and runs nature-based carbon projects in Asia and Africa that include agroforestry, regenerative agriculture and biochar initiatives, among other areas.
Smallholder farmers around the world frequently need assistance — technical and otherwise — transitioning to practices that can boost crop yields, enhance biodiversity, limit greenhouse gases and sequester carbon.
With the help of intermediaries, Varaha aids this transition by providing the tech to validate sustainable/regenerative practices, using a mix of remote sensors and machine-learning models. To date, the company runs 14 different projects spanning more than 1 million acres.
One of those projects, located in Gujarat, India, will generate biochar from the biomass of Prosopis Juliflora, an invasive plant species known to reduce biodiversity and overtake native grasses needed for livestock grazing. Credits generated from this project go towards the offtake agreement with Google.
Biochar is a carbon-rich solid made by partially combusting biomass and other organic waste. The recalcitrant (aka resistant to decomposition) carbon within biochar can last for up to millennia in soil, improving the ground’s water- and nutrient-holding capabilities.
To get biochar, post-harvest agricultural residues undergo a pyrolysis system in which they are burnt in the absence of oxygen at high temperatures inside a reactor, says Jain. Once produced, the biochar gets handed back to smallholders to use as a soil amendment.
For this project, Varaha also integrates its remote sensing technology to monitor biomass ability. The Varaha mobile app captures geo-tagged, timestamped images to document geographically distributed project activities, like biomass excavation and field application of biochar.
Varaha validates biochar carbon removal credits via Puro.Earth, a leading platform for carbon crediting.
‘A pivotal achievement’ for nature-based solutions
Jain says Varaha initially reached out to Google to showcase its various carbon removal activities for smallholders.
“Varaha, was already the largest player in the biochar category in India when we reached out, so I think that acted as a credibility point,” he explains. “We are also one of the largest teams in carbon across the world, which means that we have the capacity to do [these projects]. During the deal [with Google], we also became the only company in India to issue industrial biochar credits [via the deal with Puro.Earth], so that really accelerated the entire process.”
Varaha is currently focused on setting up the reactors in order to deliver the carbon credits on schedule, says Jain. Currently, those credits are slated for delivery to Google by 2030.
“This landmark CDR deal marks a pivotal achievement for Varaha and underscores the transformative potential of technology-driven nature-based solutions,” AgFunder director of Asia John Friedman tells AgFunderNews.
“Varaha’s ability to integrate its cutting edge digital MRV with scalable carbon removal practices is setting a new benchmark for transparency and impact in both climate mitigation as well as smallholder livelihood. We’re thrilled to see a portfolio company demonstrate such leadership on the global stage and remain confident in the team’s capacity to redefine climate-positive agricultural practices worldwide.”
At the same time, Jain notes that 100,000 credits is “really small” in terms of Google’s likely total demand for carbon credits over the next 15 years, which could bode well for Varaha.
“They need 20, 30, 40 times this volume for their requirements over this time, so [Google is] just getting started,” he notes.
“If we do well, two things are going to happen. One is that the rest of the large players are also going to flock to us. And then Google can also triple-down, quadruple-down upon Varaha as we start to deliver the credits per the schedule.
“As we start to deliver these credits, our assumption is that we will have much larger deals going on with Google as well.”
