Charm Industrial

This San Francisco-based company converts waste biomass into fast pyrolysis bio-oil. The bio-oil is injected deep underground in depleted oil wells, where it stays for millennia.

Charm Industrial has a unique approach combining natural processes for capturing CO₂ in biological material with an engineered process to convert and store it.

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Charm’s mission is to restore the atmosphere to 280 PPM CO2, otherwise known as preindustrial CO2 levels. They do this work to protect the people and places they love. To accomplish this, they’re building a carbon removal business via bio-oil sequestration that will allow them to drop the cost of bio-oil low enough that they can use it in place of coal in the iron making process.

• Bio-oil is injected into abandoned salt, ensuring permanence of 1,000+ years.
• Uses waste wood from wildfire thinning projects as a bio-oil feedstock.
• Produces biochar as a byproduct of pyrolysis, that they plan on giving to farmers to improve crop yields in the future.
• Created 150 jobs as a result of Charm’s operations.

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Charm Industrial turns excess, inedible agricultural and forestry residues into bio-oil and puts that oil back underground for permanent carbon removal. This biomass would otherwise decompose and re-emit carbon it captured back into the atmosphere.

Charm's operations financially support rural, farming, and former oil & gas communities with investment and new climate change mitigation jobs. After reaching a large scale of bio-oil production, Charm can also use it to produce carbon negative iron which can reverse iron's significant share of global emissions. Charm counts JP Morgan and Google among their customers and has a significant market share in 1,000+ year removals.

“We’ve enjoyed teaming up with Klimate and their forward thinking customers. Scaling CDR alongside emissions reductions is key to protecting the people and places we love”

Harris Cohn, Head of Sales

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Charm is the first engineered carbon removal company to sequester carbon and publicly publish the entire life cycle analysis on their registry. Their process is unique because their machines are mobile, allowing them to get as close to the biomass as possible, which drives down costs. Charm does not rely on external power sources like green energy, allowing them to scale without the risk of limited partner supply.

Here are a few additional accomplishments highlighting Charm as a leader in the space:

• Frontier - Charm Industrial was the first company to close a long-term off-take with Frontier Climate for $53 million. The Frontier team has over 50 reviewers and scientific experts making this purchase rigorously reviewed.
• JP Morgan - Charm was also one of three companies initially selected for JP Morgan’s $200 million carbon removal purchase fund.
• Xprize - Charm is one of the top 60 Xprize companies out of 1,000 submissions.

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