Platts, a division of S&P Global, has announced the inclusion of carbon credits certified under the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) protocol into its United States 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 price assessments, effective February 2, 2026. This technical update expands the scope of the existing Platts US Biochar carbon credit price assessments, which currently track the market value of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) generated through biochar production. By incorporating CAR-certified credits alongside existing methodologies, Platts aims to provide a more comprehensive reflection of the North American voluntary carbon market. This move follows the recent high-integrity “CCP” label approval granted to the CAR U.S. and Canada Biochar Protocol, signaling a maturation of the regional biochar carbon credit ecosystem.

The primary challenge addressed by this integration is the fragmentation and lack of liquidity within the nascent biochar carbon credit market. Until recently, price discovery for biochar credits was hindered by a lack of standardized benchmarks that accounted for different certification bodies. Buyers and project developers in the United States faced significant price transparency hurdles, as various protocols—such as CAR, Verra, and Puro.earth—often operated in silos. This fragmentation made it difficult for market participants to assess fair market value, managing the risk associated with long-term carbon removal contracts while ensuring that the credits purchased met the rigorous quality standards required by corporate sustainability mandates.

The solution provided by Platts is the formal inclusion of the CAR U.S. and Canada Biochar Protocol (Version 1.0) into its daily price assessment methodology. This allows the Platts assessment to act as a unified benchmark that reflects a broader “basket” of high-integrity, internationally fungible credits. By expanding the eligibility criteria to include CAR-certified projects, Platts enhances the data pool used to determine daily price points, thereby increasing the reliability of the assessment. This methodology shift aligns with the industry’s move toward standardized specifications for vintage, volume, and sustainable development goals, providing a clear reference base for bids, offers, and transactions within the North American market.

The outcome of this inclusion is expected to be a significant increase in market transparency and investor confidence for biochar projects across the United States. As of early 2026, the biochar sector is projected to see a substantial rise in credit issuance, with hundreds of thousands of credits expected from newly registered projects. By providing a robust price signal that includes CAR-certified removals, Platts facilitates more efficient capital allocation and helps stabilize prices, which were previously noted to be around $150 per tonne. This integration reinforces the status of biochar as a leading engineered carbon removal technology, providing the financial infrastructure necessary to scale the industry toward its multi-billion dollar growth projections for the coming decade.