changeadminGurugram-based climate-tech platform Varaha has signed a deal with the world’s leading technology company Google to sell biochar carbon credits.
Biochar is one of the solutions for carbon removal and is created by heating organic materials (like biomass or agricultural waste) in an oxygen-limited environment (pyrolysis). This transforms the carbon in the biomass into a stable, solid form that can be stored in the soil for hundreds of years.
The deal by Google is part of its bigger aim to achieve net-zero emissions across all its operations and value chains by 2030. The company generates huge emissions from its large data centres and offices.
Apart from reducing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030, the tech giant plans to invest in nature-based and technology-based carbon removal solutions to neutralize our remaining emissions.
This is Google’s significant investment in its climate goals. The global tech giant will purchase carbon credits that collectively represent 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide ( removed from the atmosphere, from Varaha and San Francisco-based Charm Industrial, one of the early innovators in carbon removal and biochar technology.
Varaha and Charm Industrial will each sell 100,000 tonnes of biochar carbon credits by 2030 to Google.
Commenting on the partnership with Google, co-founder of Varaha, Madhur Jain wrote in a LinkedIn post that “Google has committed to purchase 100,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits from Varaha by 2030 as the catalytic first buyer of biochar credits produced by a Varaha facility in Gujarat, India. Marking Google’s first large-scale carbon offtake in India, this partnership sets a powerful precedent for scaling permanent carbon removal in emerging economies.“
Founded in 2021 by Ankita Garg, Vishal Kuchanur and Madhur Jain, Varaha is active in multiple Indian states and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
Varaha has since worked with thousands of smallholder farmers to help them follow sustainable farming practices like regenerative agriculture, afforestation, etc.
These methods help farmers enhance their productivity, boost crop yields, improve climate adaptation and result in carbon credits. The income generated by selling carbon credits is shared between farmers, Varaha and partners.
Varaha’s biochar project in India’s Gujarat state aims at combating Prosopis juliflora, an invasive tree species, that disrupts local ecosystems by depleting groundwater and suppressing native flora. Converting invasive Prosopis into biochar offers a sustainable solution for carbon capture, soil enrichment and helping local communities.
Biochar has emerged as a cheaper option against the expensive new technologies that extract carbon dioxide from the air. In addition, apart from helping in carbon sequestration, biochar also helps improve soil fertility, water retention, and microbial activity.
In the soil, biochar has the potential to support sustainable agriculture, which can further reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and other practices that may contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
In a short period, Varaha has taken significant strides in the carbon credit market and this biochar carbon credits deal with Google will further enhance its expertise and reputation.
The company has onboarded several notable partners like Coca-Cola, IIT Kharagpur, The Nature Conservancy, and Rippleworks. In November 2024, the company’s CEO, Madhur Jain, was named in the 2024 TIME 100 Climate List, which comprised people like Bill Gates, Ajay Banga, and Prince Harry.
Recently, it launched India’s first carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits for industrial biochar through a Finland-based leading platform for carbon crediting, Puro Earth.
Varaha was on the annual list of Change Started 11 Green Startups of the Year 2024.
To combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon capture and carbon sequestration (CCS) technologies are emerging as a necessary and complementary solution to reducing global CO₂ emissions.
Want to learn about CCS technologies? Read here.
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