Exomad Green‘s Riberalta facility represents a groundbreaking approach to large-scale carbon dioxide removal through biochar production in Bolivia’s Amazon region. As one of two operational facilities currently removing a combined 120,000 tons of CO₂ annually, the Riberalta plant specifically contributes 60,000 tons of carbon removal per year while simultaneously delivering substantial co-benefits to local indigenous communities. The facility has attracted major corporate partnerships, including serving as a key supplier for Swiss Re’s landmark 70,000-ton carbon removal agreement and contributing to Microsoft’s record-breaking 1.24 million ton biochar purchase agreement. Beyond its environmental impact, the Riberalta operation demonstrates how carbon removal projects can integrate climate action with social equity, economic development, and sustainable land management practices in one of the world’s most ecologically critical regions.
Facility overview and production capacity
The Riberalta facility began operations in 2024 as Exomad Green’s second biochar production facility, following their initial plant in Concepción. Located in Bolivia’s Amazon region, the facility houses three biochar production reactors that collectively remove 60,000 tons of CO₂ annually through advanced pyrolysis technology. This production capacity positions Riberalta as a significant contributor to Exomad Green’s current status as the world’s largest biochar producer.
The facility’s production process transforms sustainable forestry residues that would otherwise be incinerated into high-quality biochar with an 84% carbon content and a hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of 0.24, ranking among the best globally. These specifications enable long-term carbon sequestration while creating a valuable soil amendment product. The Riberalta operation is part of Exomad Green’s ambitious expansion plan to scale from their current two-facility, 120,000-ton annual capacity to five facilities removing 1,000,000 tons of CO₂ by 2027.
Production process
The Riberalta facility employs advanced pyrolysis technology to convert forestry waste into carbon-sequestering biochar through a controlled heating process in the absence of oxygen. This thermochemical conversion transforms biomass that would typically be incinerated as waste into a stable carbon product capable of sequestering carbon for centuries. The facility’s three biochar production reactors are designed to handle substantial volumes of forestry residues, primarily sourced from hardwood operations in the surrounding region.
A critical component of the Riberalta operation is its comprehensive biomass sourcing traceability system, implemented through a dedicated Forest Monitoring Center. This monitoring infrastructure enables Exomad Green to trace the origin of all biomass feedstock, ensuring transparency and enabling consistent monitoring of supplier practices to uphold rigorous biomass sustainability requirements. The traceability system represents a key differentiator in the carbon removal market, where biomass sourcing integrity directly impacts the environmental credibility of carbon removal claims.
Quality assurance protocols at the Riberalta facility include regular testing to ensure biochar consistently meets high international standards, reinforcing its value and effectiveness in both carbon sequestration and soil enhancement applications. The facility’s biochar production is certified under the Puro.earth Biochar Methodology, providing third-party validation of the carbon removal process and product quality. This certification framework ensures that the biochar produced at Riberalta meets established criteria for durability, additionality, and environmental integrity.
The facility also integrates Carbonfuture’s MRV+ (monitoring, reporting, and verification) system, which provides leading independent digital monitoring for durable carbon removal. Each biochar batch produced at Riberalta is uniquely identified and meticulously tracked from production to application, ensuring transparency and compliance with established third-party standards. All removals are verified by independent third-party verifiers and certified by third-party certifiers, guaranteeing the integrity and trustworthiness of each carbon removal credit generated by the facility.
Market position and corporate partnerships
The Riberalta facility plays a central role in Exomad Green’s position as the leading durable carbon dioxide removal supplier, with the company holding a 27% market share of global CDR deliveries. This market leadership has attracted major corporate partnerships seeking reliable, large-scale carbon removal solutions to meet their net-zero commitments. The facility’s operational track record and quality certifications have positioned it as a preferred supplier for institutional buyers requiring high-integrity carbon removal credits.
Microsoft’s record-breaking biochar carbon removal agreement represents the largest transaction of its type globally, with the technology giant committing to purchase at least 1.24 million tons of carbon removal credits over ten years from Exomad Green’s biochar projects in Bolivia. While this agreement encompasses multiple facilities, the Riberalta operation serves as a key production site supporting this landmark deal. The Microsoft partnership validates the industrial-scale readiness of biochar as a carbon removal solution and demonstrates corporate confidence in Exomad Green’s ability to deliver verified carbon removal at scale.
Swiss Re’s seven-year contract specifically targets the Riberalta facility as a primary supplier, with the reinsurance giant purchasing at least 70,000 tons of Biochar Carbon Removal under a single contract. This agreement reflects Swiss Re’s commitment to increasing the proportion of carbon removal in their compensation mix to 100% by 2030, positioning high-quality biochar as a cornerstone of their net-zero strategy. The Swiss Re partnership emphasizes the importance of rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification in carbon removal efforts, with Carbonfuture’s MRV+ system providing the transparency and accountability required by institutional buyers.
Challenges and critical considerations
While the Riberalta facility represents a significant advancement in carbon removal technology deployment, the broader biochar industry faces ongoing scientific and environmental challenges that merit consideration. Critical assessments of biochar’s effectiveness highlight inconsistent results from scientific studies, indicating that conclusive evidence demonstrating biochar production as a viable and effective method for atmospheric carbon removal over meaningful timescales remains limited. The absence of multi-decade biochar field trials means that industry claims about long-term carbon residence times are largely based on modeling or extrapolation from short-term studies.
Field studies of biochar applications have shown mixed results, including significant variations in biochar decomposition rates and notably low carbon residence times in tropical soils similar to those found in the Riberalta region. These findings raise questions about the long-term effectiveness of biochar applications in the specific environmental conditions where the facility operates. Some research has documented cases where biochar application leads to higher losses of existing soil organic carbon than the amount of carbon added through biochar, potentially undermining net carbon sequestration benefits.
Environmental concerns also extend to potential contamination issues associated with biochar production and application. The pyrolysis process can generate pollutants such as carcinogenic and mutagenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which can contaminate crops when biochar containing these compounds is applied to agricultural soils. PAHs pose cancer risks to humans and are toxic to aquatic organisms, while their persistent nature means that biochar has the potential to cause permanent soil pollution through repeated applications.
The Riberalta facility’s approach to addressing these challenges includes comprehensive quality testing and certification under established methodologies, though the long-term effectiveness of these measures remains to be validated through extended field monitoring. The facility’s integration with independent verification systems provides transparency about production processes and immediate environmental impacts, but cannot fully address uncertainties about long-term carbon storage and potential environmental risks associated with biochar applications in tropical agricultural systems.
Conclusion
Exomad Green’s Riberalta facility represents a pioneering approach to industrial-scale carbon removal that integrates environmental objectives with social equity and economic development in Bolivia’s Amazon region. With its capacity to remove 60,000 tons of CO₂ annually, the facility demonstrates how carbon removal projects can address multiple sustainability challenges simultaneously. The operation’s success in attracting major corporate partnerships, including landmark agreements with Microsoft and Swiss Re, validates the commercial viability of biochar-based carbon removal at industrial scale.
The facility’s comprehensive approach to quality assurance, community engagement, and environmental monitoring sets new standards for the carbon removal industry. Through its integration of advanced pyrolysis technology, rigorous biomass traceability systems, and independent verification protocols, the Riberalta operation provides a model for how large-scale carbon removal projects can meet the transparency and integrity requirements of institutional buyers. The facility’s biochar donation program demonstrates how environmental solutions can simultaneously support agricultural productivity, social equity, and climate action.
However, the facility operates within a broader context of ongoing scientific uncertainty about biochar’s long-term effectiveness and potential environmental risks. While current monitoring and verification systems provide transparency about production processes and immediate impacts, questions remain about long-term carbon storage durability and potential soil contamination issues in tropical environments. These considerations highlight the importance of continued research, monitoring, and adaptive management as the Riberalta facility and similar projects scale to meet growing demand for durable carbon removal solutions.
The Riberalta facility’s role in Exomad Green’s expansion toward removing 1,000,000 tons of CO₂ annually by 2027 positions it as a critical component of the emerging industrial carbon removal sector. As corporate and policy commitments to net-zero emissions drive demand for verified carbon removal, facilities like Riberalta will play increasingly important roles in determining whether biochar can deliver on its promise as a scalable climate solution that benefits both the environment and local communities.