Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation has agreed to establish a joint venture with US decarbonisation startup Graphyte to develop a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credit business, taking a 49% equity stake in the new entity.
Graphyte generates CDR credits through biomass carbon removal and storage, using a process it calls Carbon Casting, which compresses and seals biomass residues — material that would otherwise release CO2 — and stores them underground for long-term sequestration of over 1,000 years. The company is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate investment fund founded by Bill Gates.
The joint venture will initially focus on Graphyte's Loblolly project in Arkansas, which uses rice hulls and is being expanded to remove 50,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year. The modular nature of the Carbon Casting process means projects can be scaled to meet commercial demand across multiple sites in North America.
Sumitomo said the venture was expected to achieve early monetisation given the technology's existing commercial track record in the US, and that it planned to supply CDR credits to customers including Japanese shipping company NYK Line.
Sumitomo and Graphyte form joint venture to scale biomass carbon removal credits
