The XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition has officially closed its most ambitious chapter, awarding a total of $100 million to teams developing scalable solutions to remove atmospheric CO₂. While much of the attention is rightly focused on the Grand Prize winner, Mati Carbon, whose enhanced rock weathering approach earned a $50 million award, this historic announcement also marked a critical moment for biocharBiochar is a carbon-rich material created from biomass decomposition in low-oxygen conditions. It has important applications in environmental remediation, soil improvement, agriculture, carbon sequestration, energy storage, and sustainable materials, promoting efficiency and reducing waste in various contexts while addressing climate change challenges. More as a viable and scalable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway. French-Brazilian startup NetZero took home a $15 million prize for its biochar-based model, placing biochar technology firmly within the climate tech mainstream.

Launched in 2021 and backed by the Musk Foundation, the $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal aimed to catalyze technologies that can remove CO₂ at gigaton scale. After a four-year competition and a final year requiring at least 1,000 net tonnes of CO₂ removed per team, the winners were announced during Earth Week 2025. The judging criteria prioritized operational viability, verifiability, cost efficiency, and long-term durability.

Among the diverse cohort of winning teams were three primary runners-up alongside Mati Carbon: Vaulted Deep ($8M), UNDO Carbon ($5M), and NetZero ($15M). While each explored a different removal pathway, NetZero’s focus on biochar presents a compelling model for carbon removal tied to regenerative agriculture.

NetZero and Biochar: A Circular Model Rooted in Agriculture

NetZero, a France-based company operating in Brazil, earned recognition for its closed-loop model that transforms agricultural waste into biochar, a stable form of carbon that can sequester CO₂ for centuries when returned to soil. This method offers dual benefits: durable carbon sequestration and enhanced soil fertility.

The company’s approach hinges on a highly efficient system for sourcing tropical crop residues, pyrolyzing the biomassBiomass is a complex biological organic or non-organic solid product derived from living or recently living organism and available naturally. Various types of wastes such as animal manure, waste paper, sludge and many industrial wastes are also treated as biomass because like natural biomass these More into biochar, and redistributing it to local farmers. This circular flow minimizes transport emissions, enhances local resilience, and builds trust among farming communities—an increasingly critical component for large-scale deployment of land-based CDR solutions.

In their post-award commentary, NetZero’s team emphasized their intent to scale production rapidly. Key priorities include:

• Expanding R&D into new biochar formulations and agricultural applications.
• Strengthening engineering and manufacturing teams to enable system deployments at scale.
• Launching a platform to support third-party operators in building and managing their own NetZero-powered biochar facilities.

This vision positions NetZero as a biochar ecosystem enabler rather than a sole producer—a shift that could significantly accelerate market penetration, particularly in tropical agricultural zones where biomass waste is abundant and degradation pressures are high.

Scientific Rigor and Market Alignment

A key theme among all XPRIZE winners was the focus on Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV). For biochar, verifiability has often been a point of scrutiny due to variability in biomass feedstockFeedstock refers to the raw organic material used to produce biochar. This can include a wide range of materials, such as wood chips, agricultural residues, and animal manure. More and soil conditions. NetZero’s recognition at XPRIZE suggests the company has addressed these concerns credibly.

Although the cost per ton for biochar-based carbon removal remains variable depending on feedstock and location, NetZero’s operational model shows potential to meet or beat the long-term market target of $100 per ton—a threshold cited by Mati Carbon and increasingly referenced as the floor for durable CDR in carbon credit markets.

Buyers like Stripe, Shopify, and Microsoft, who are looking for high-integrity carbon removals, have shown early interest in biochar credits, but scaling demand will require continued transparency, standardization, and robust monitoring—areas where NetZero has pledged to continue investing.

Positioning Biochar in the CDR Landscape

The inclusion of a biochar company among the top prize winners underscores a broader shift in how land-based carbon removal is being viewed. No longer seen solely as an agricultural co-benefit or a transitional strategy, biochar is now firmly part of the durable CDR toolkit, alongside technologies like enhanced rock weathering and direct air capture.

Biochar offers distinct advantages:

• Permanence: When properly produced and applied, biochar sequesters carbon for centuries.
• Co-benefits: Improves soil health, increases crop yields, and reduces dependence on chemical fertilizers.
• Decentralization: Can be deployed in remote or underdeveloped regions with minimal infrastructure requirements.
• Feedstock flexibility: Can utilize a wide range of biomass residues, supporting both waste valorization and emissions mitigation.

However, challenges remain in optimizing system design, ensuring MRV robustness, and achieving consistent product quality. NetZero’s roadmap—emphasizing systems engineering and third-party enablement—appears to acknowledge these gaps while charting a course toward scalability.

Looking Forward: A More Diverse, Durable Carbon Market

The conclusion of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition marks a turning point for the CDR field. Enhanced rock weathering and mineralization have emerged as leaders in permanence and scalability, but biochar’s role is now indisputable. With a growing $3.9 billion market for high-quality carbon credits and increasing demand for co-beneficial solutions in agriculture, biochar is poised to expand beyond pilot programs into full-scale deployment.

NetZero’s success serves as a case study in how CDR solutions can be integrated into existing value chains, making carbon removal not just a climate imperative but also a business opportunity.

For industry watchers and investors, the message is clear: biochar has matured. It’s not just a soil amendment—it’s a strategic pillar in the fight against climate change.

Learn more about NetZero in our latest research note here: NetZero: A Deep Dive into Gen2 and Circular Business Models