How A Healthier Earth demonstrated project quality with a pre-issuance biochar rating

In 2023, biochar credit prices varied widely, from under £30 to over £375 per tonne. For A Healthier Earth, this volatility made it difficult to market, validate or defend a target credit price, despite the clear opportunity for growth in the sector. They needed to act quickly to capture value while managing risk in an uncertain market. Furthermore, their UK site faced a growing build-up of compost oversize (COS), a woody, non-compostable waste common across the sector. Without a viable use, COS is often stockpiled before being sent to landfill, creating both environmental and operational challenges.

A Healthier Earth saw an opportunity to address this waste problem through carbon removal. But to secure investment and offtake, they had to demonstrate the quality and commercial viability of their project in a market still defining its standards. As one of the UK’s largest biochar projects, A Healthier Earth is utilising a waste stream with no alternative use case. Their institutional risk approach aims to reshape the economics of the biochar market, making it more financially viable and scalable for farmers. To support this, they needed an independent assessment that could validate quality and de-risk participation for investors and buyers.

The BeZero Carbon Ex Ante Rating has provided A Healthier Earth with a clear and independent validation of their project's climate potential. The standalone carbon rating of ‘a’ gives them the confidence to communicate the quality of their carbon removal claims to prospective buyers and partners. The assessment has helped highlight key areas for refinement and planning, offering an external perspective that supports the project’s potential for meaningful climate impact.