Seven projects our portfolio coordinator wants us to fund
A wishlist, if we had the capital right now
Editor’s Note: Grace Mumford is our portfolio coordinator. A key part of her job is identifying innovative climate projects and opportunities that leverage the types of capital Terraset provides.
We hear from a lot of strong projects. Most are further along than people expect. They often have grants signed, lenders interested, pilots running. What they need is a pre-purchase to turn interest into action.
We can’t support all of these projects ourselves, so we’re sharing a few that we hope others can.
Spread the word, fund them through Terraset, or make the pre-purchase yourself. In any case, you can help these climate solutions get their shot at operating on a scale that matters.
Methane Abatement & Water Conservation, Southeast Asia
AgriCapture works with rice farmers across Southeast Asia to cut the methane produced by flooded fields and reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation. Their credits are strong, but many buyers are price-sensitive. Currently, the water and carbon benefits are lumped into one credit. Selling the water conservation outcome separately, instead of folding it into the carbon price, lets AgriCapture lower that price and reach more buyers.
Capital they need: $300,000
What the capital unlocks: A model other rice farms could adopt, which could make methane and water cuts affordable at a much bigger scale.
What excites us about them: Separating the carbon credit from the water credit means more sales and more farmers using these methods. If it works for AgriCapture, it could work for a lot more rice farms. We bought 1,000 tons of methane abatement from them this past May.
Methane Abatement, United States
Brightly funds nonprofit food rescue organizations that redirect surplus food from landfills to people who are experiencing food insecurity. Less food rotting in landfills means less methane released. They’ve signed multiple forward contracts from organizations like The Climate Trust and 3Degrees. As one of the first projects of its kind, pre-purchases can help demonstrate demand for this emerging credit category.
Capital they need: $250,000
What the capital unlocks: Early sales prove this new kind of credit works, plus it increases long-term funding for food rescue groups.
What excites us about them: Food rescue and methane cuts almost never line up this well. One dollar fights hunger and cuts harmful gases at the same time. They’ve also earned an A-rating from BeZero Carbon.
Biochar, Greater Caribbean
Carbonwave collects sargassum seaweed, which washes up on Caribbean and Gulf coasts, and turns it into biostimulant and biochar. A $150,000 to $250,000 pre-purchase would fund the buildout of both biochar and their paver product, another use for the same feedstock.
Capital they need: $150,000–$250,000
What the capital unlocks: This would be Carbonwave’s first carbon revenue, and would unlock the equity necessary to build out biochar and paver production side by side.
What excites us about them: Carbonwave is getting three products out of one feedstock: biostimulant, biochar, and pavers. That kind of business doesn’t have to rely on carbon credits alone to survive, which makes the carbon revenue easier to underwrite, not harder.
Biochar, Idaho
Forestir is helping solve the US Forest Service’s biomass problem. Chipping and hauling logging waste out of Valley County, Idaho — one of the most at-risk firesheds in the state — is expensive, and the pileup raises wildfire risk. They are building an on-site facility to turn 4,200 tons of that waste a year into biochar instead of a fire hazard. The Forest Service awarded them a $1 million Wood Innovations grant last year based on the benefits it will receive from partnering with a biomass processing solution.
Capital they need: $260,000–$390,000
What the capital unlocks: This funding would prove demand that incentivizes a bank to lend, opening the door to the Timber Expansion Loan Guaranteed Program and other USDA opportunities.
What excites us about them: This is what practical wildfire mitigation looks like: turning a costly waste problem into carbon removal, right where the fire risk is highest, with state and federal entity support.
Biochar, Namibia
PyroCCS bundled three biochar plants into one €2.1 million project. They already have offtake commitments and a soft yes from a bank lined up. What’s missing is about €200,000 of equity-like capital to close the gap.
Capital they need: €200,000
What the capital unlocks: This directly unlocks a €2.1 million loan. Proof of funds is due in September.
What excites us about them: Bundling three plants into one financing package is a smart way to get biochar built at real scale in the Global South, instead of raising money plant by plant.
Enhanced Rock Weathering, Latin America
Silica works with quarries and farmer organizations to spread fine volcanic rock on fields across Latin America, a process that pulls carbon out of the air and increases crop yields as the rock breaks down. FIRA, Mexico’s rural development finance institution, has invited Silica to be included in key sustainable finance programs, which would provide access to preferential interest rates for Silica and partner farmers.
Capital they need: $250,000–$300,000
What the capital unlocks: This will enable a new funded project needed to qualify for FIRA’s programs. Inclusion in a program significantly lowers project financing costs, and expands deployments through FIRA’s 2M+ farmer network.
What excites us about them: Enhanced rock weathering barely exists in Latin America today. Gaining access to FIRA’s network offers the opportunity to expand Silica’s operations and the ERW ecosystem more broadly.
Biochar, Ukraine
Tellus Conservation is building a biochar project in Ukraine to fund conservation work the war has cut off. Profits from the kilns flow into the Nature Fund of Ukraine, which provides long-term funding for 11 national parks. The near-term plan is a batch-kiln pilot, followed by a larger two-kiln commercial system in Rivne Oblast. A development bank has invited Tellus to apply for financing on that buildout, but needs a buyer letter of intent or forward offtake for the 4,000 credits a year produced by the two kilns, once the feasibility study and site selection wrap up.
Capital they need: $300,000
What the capital unlocks: Development-bank financing for the two-kiln system, and a real funding stream for 11 national parks that the war has left with almost nothing.
What excites us about them: Most paths to fund Ukrainian conservation depend on a grant renewing every year. Turning biochar revenue into permanent park funding is the kind of model Terraset wants to help prove out.
If any of these projects pique your interest, reach out at hello@terrasetclimate.org. We’d love to talk about contribution approaches or connect you with the teams behind the work.