The carbon credit market just had its biggest opening quarter on record. 2.3 million tonnes of carbon removal were contracted in the first three months of 2026 alone — that is 560% of what was contracted in Q1 2025. One year ago.
If you run a palm oil mill, a cashew processing facility, or a timber operation in Nigeria or West Africa, this is not abstract news. These are the buyers who are now looking for what your waste can produce.
Who is actually buying
The headline deal of Q1 2026 was Microsoft purchasing 1 million tonnes of biochar carbon removal (BCR) in a single agreement. Microsoft has committed to being carbon negative by 2030, and they are backing that commitment with real money. That one deal alone was 43% of everything contracted in the entire quarter.
But Microsoft is not the only one.
Google purchased 200,000 tonnes of biochar credits in Q1. Frontier — a buying consortium backed by companies like Stripe, Shopify, and McKinsey — contracted over 210,000 tonnes across multiple deals. Empacar, a Bolivian packaging company, purchased 305,000 tonnes. TD Bank signed a 10-year agreement with a carbon supplier for 44,000 tonnes.
Over 113 different buyers made purchases in the quarter. These are not small climate experiments. These are long-term contractual commitments from companies that need to show verified carbon removal to their shareholders and regulators.
Why biochar dominated
Of all the ways companies can remove carbon — capturing it from the air, injecting it underground, spreading minerals in the ocean — biochar was responsible for 93% of everything contracted in Q1 2026.
Every single one of the top five deals of the quarter was for biochar.
The reason is simple: biochar is the only carbon removal method that can be done at scale, at low cost, using agricultural waste that already exists. It does not require expensive new infrastructure. It does not require rare materials. It requires feedstock — palm kernel shells, cashew nut shells, sawdust — and a pyrolyzer.
West Africa has some of the highest concentrations of that feedstock anywhere in the world.
Who is selling — and what you can learn from them
The largest supplier in Q1 was a company called Liferaft, which signed that 1 million tonne deal with Microsoft. To put that in context, Liferaft did not exist in this market before Q1 2026. They entered, signed the largest biochar deal in history, and became an instant market leader.
The second largest seller, Exomad Green, sold over 600,000 tonnes across two separate agreements. A Swiss facility called Attitude signed a 305,000 tonne deal. AMP, a US company that converts municipal organic waste into biochar using AI-powered sorting technology, signed a 200,000 tonne deal with Google.
What these sellers have in common is that they found a consistent, large-volume feedstock source and built credible production and certification behind it. That is the model.
For a cashew processor in Nigeria providing 5,000 tonnes of shell per year, the equivalent annual revenue at a 20% share is around $70,000 — in USD, from waste that currently has no value. For a palm oil mill with 60,000 tonnes of PKS annually, that number is closer to $500,000 per year.
One thing that is easy to miss
74% of all carbon credit transactions in Q1 2026 were facilitated by intermediaries — companies that connect buyers and sellers, handle contracts, and manage the certification process on behalf of both sides.
This is actually good news for processors in Nigeria and West Africa. You do not need to figure out how to sell to Microsoft directly. You do not need a carbon credit trading desk. You need a partner who handles that side of the market while you focus on your core operation.
That is exactly the model BIG operates on. We install the equipment, manage certification through the European Biochar Certificate or Rainbow standard, handle buyer relationships, and share the revenue with you. Your job is to supply consistent feedstock.
The window is open, not permanent
The market data is clear: buyer demand is growing fast, biochar is the dominant method, and the largest deals are going to suppliers who establish track records early.
The companies buying credits today are building long-term portfolios. Microsoft's 1 million tonne deal runs over multiple years. TD Bank's agreement with Charm Industrial runs 10 years. Once these buyers have established relationships with verified suppliers, they tend to stay with them.
Processors who enter the market in the next 12 to 24 months will be positioned as established, verified producers when the next wave of corporate net-zero deadlines hits — 2030 is not far away.
Your palm kernel shells are not waste. Your cashew husks are not waste. Right now, in 2026, they are a revenue line that the largest companies in the world are actively trying to buy.
Sources: CDR.fyi 2026 Q1 Durable CDR Market Update