Summary

atmosfair is partnering with BIOSORRA to finance and commission an industrial-scale pyrolysis facility for the production of biochar and clean energy in Kenya. Applying an innovative technological pyrolysis configuration, atmosfair and BIOSORRA use underutilized local agricultural waste to generate biochar that local farmers will use to improve their depleted soils. This way we create a robust circular model that transforms into climate benefits such as long term carbon removal but also soil improvements, and economic value for the region and the country.

The new facility expands on BIOSORRA’s existing operations in Kenya, and will remove approximately 8,800 tonnes of CO2e per year with a carbon sequestration durability of at least 1,000 years.

Circularity

The biochar produced in our facility is returned to agricultural soils in the same regions where the biomass originated, supporting sustainable and regenerative agriculture and strengthening local circularity. In doing so, the project contributes to improved soil health, greater resilience for farmers, and a more productive use of agricultural residues that previously had limited economic or environmental value.

We also aim to reduce logistics and transport related costs/emissions by closely working together with our agricultural partners, both from the biomass provision side and the biochar application. Additionally, all greenhouse gas emissions generated across the value chain are measured, accounted for, and deducted from the net carbon removals produced by the project. This ensures that the climate claims done with our removals are transparent, conservative, high-integrity, and scientifically credible.

Clean Energy Generation

Grid reliability remains one of the most relevant risks for stable industrial operations in Kenya and across many countries in Africa and the Global South. Power outages occur regularly throughout the year while electricity prices can be volatile, and therefore energy independence is a major benefit for any project.

For this reason, atmosfair and BIOSORRA are working together to address this challenge on the project by generating clean electricity out of excess process energy in order to power the operations, reducing dependence on the grid and increasing operational resilience. This creates a major advantage for industrial biochar production, where uptime, process stability and energy security are essential. At scale, this model holds great potential to pair durable carbon removal, sustainable agriculture and clean energy baseload energy generation within an efficient single integrated system.

Science and Innovation

BIOSORRA is constantly working on continuous improvements in machinery, process control, equipment configuration, energy recovery, and production workflows. On the scientific side, this includes optimizing production parameters to receive high quality biochar, improving product consistency, testing new mixed biochar formulations, adapting application methods to different crops and soils, and ensuring that the product delivers measurable value to farmers.

The project’s biochar complies with the rigorous requirements of the Global Biochar C-Sink Standard developed by Carbon Standards International, having already issued certified credits. The biochar has also been repeatedly tested in European laboratories. It meets agricultural safety requirements such as monitoring of heavy metals and other harmful compounds, as well as key chemical criteria to ensure long-term carbon removal.

Biochar and smallholder farmers

In Kenya’s tropical soils, which are often degraded, acidic and vulnerable to nutrient leaching, biochar can play a powerful role.  As a water reservoir, it increases nutrient holding capacity, reducing nutrient losses and improving fertilizer efficiency while also ensuring water availability through drought seasons. It can also serve as a carrier material for organic nutrients, allowing BIOSORRA to develop blends and application protocols that better respond to the needs and constraints of farmers.

The project aims to support smallholder farmers and to improve soil health, while reducing subsidized chemical fertilizer dependency, and increasing resilience to climate stress, BIOSORRA has built more than 30 demonstration farms and conducted successful trials across the main crops and farming systems in the region. Their agronomic work is focused on practical adoption, for example developing dosing recommendations, crop-specific application protocols, and affordable, efficient, easy to apply biochar-based mixes that are designed around the economic realities of smallholder farmers.

Our Partner

BIOSORRA is a Kenyan based company, founded in 2022. The team is constituted by highly trained professionals with diverse backgrounds, with a clear mission to remove carbon while benefitting smallholder farmers through scalable and local models. BIOSORRA has already built a proven track record being one of the few African companies producing consistently high-quality biochar and delivering carbon removal at industrial scale, with more than 1,000 tons of CO2e removed to date.

The company has in-house expertise in laboratory testing, soil sensing, agronomic analysis, and field application. It also collaborates with local and international universities to deepen its understanding of biochar performance across different contexts, which helps improve the adoption of biochar by farmers.

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