Google has agreed to buy 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits from Indian startup Varaha, its first such deal with an Indian carbon project and one involving biochar produced from biomass, also known as horticultural charcoal or "black gold" for soil. )’s largest transaction.

The companies said on Thursday that the offtake agreement amount will be delivered to Google by 2030 from the Varaha industrial biochar project in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. So far, the New Delhi-based startup is the only Indian company to list on carbon removal standards and register Puro.Earth.

Biochar is produced in two ways: artisanal and industrial. The artisanal method is community-driven, with farmers burning crop residue in Erlenmeyer flasks without using machines. In comparison, industrial biochar is made using large reactors that process 50-60 tons of biomass per day.

Varaha's project will produce industrial biochar from invasive plant species, Cowpea grassusing its pyrolysis facility in Gujarat. This invasive species affects plant biodiversity and has replaced grasslands used for livestock raising. Madhur Jain, the company's co-founder and CEO, said in an interview that Varaha will harvest the plant and work to restore the area's native grasslands. Once biochar production is complete, a third-party auditor will submit a report to Puro.Earth to earn points.

Although biochar is considered a long-term carbon removal solution, its durability can vary between 1,000 and 2,500 years, depending on production and environmental factors.

Background information: Carbon credits are tied to the time it takes to permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere by compensating emissions through sustainable activities. Greenhouse gases have extremely long-lasting effects on the atmosphere, lasting hundreds or thousands of years, so any effective carbon credit program must commit to an equally long carbon removal period. “Persistence” here refers to how long carbon is stored in the soil before being returned to the atmosphere.

Jain told TechCrunch that Varaha experimented with different feedstocks and different parameters in its reactors to find the best combination for nearly 1,600 years of durability.

The startup has also built a digital monitoring, reporting and verification system integrating remote sensing to monitor biomass availability. It even has a mobile app that captures geotagged, time-stamped images to document geological activities, including biomass excavation and on-site application of biochar.

Varaha said its first project processed at least 40,000 tons of biomass and produced 10,000 tons of biochar last year.

"Even if we don't improve our skills, we have reached a level where we can successfully process 40,000 tons of biomass per year, which means we can easily achieve our goal of processing 100,000 tons of biochar by 2030," Jain said.

He added that each ton of biochar can generate 2.5 carbon credits and the startup aims to reach 1 million carbon credits per year by 2030.

As businesses generate greenhouse gas emissions, carbon credits become increasingly important, with each credit equivalent to the reduction of one ton of carbon dioxide. By purchasing carbon credits, companies can support sustainable projects to offset their emissions.

Google sets a new record with this deal, as the last major biochar carbon removal deal was by Senken and Exomad Green, involving 81,600 tonnes of biochar carbon credits between 2025 and 2028. Still, Google's deal with Varaha is minuscule compared to the tech giant's carbon emissions.

In 2023, the search giant's greenhouse gas emissions totaled approximately 14.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (gas), a 13% increase from a year ago. While Google says it aims to achieve net-zero emissions across all of its operations and value chains by 2030, continued growth in AI development is expected to worsen those emissions over time.

Randy Spock, head of carbon removal at Google, said in a statement: “Biochar is a promising carbon removal method because it can be scaled up globally using existing technology and contribute to Soil health has positive side effects.”

Varaha currently operates 14 technology-driven carbon projects in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Kenya. The startup said it has also helped more than 100,000 smallholder farmers switch to sustainable practices, helping to reduce more than 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The company has raised a total of $12.7 million, including $8.7 million in a Series A round last year, with support from RTP Global, Omnivore, Orios Venture Partners, IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group’s Octave Wellbeing Economy Fund and Japan’s Norinchukin Bank Norinchukin Bank) and other funds.