3 Key Insights From the 2024 Voluntary Carbon Market

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In the 2024 voluntary carbon market, BECCS saw an 84% increase in volume year-over-year, with transactions up 156%.

By Laura Wente, SVP, Commercial at Elimini


The year 2024 is officially the hottest on record – as verified by NASA, the WMO, and the NCEI – and our planet surpassed the 1.5C tipping point warned of in the Paris Climate Agreement for the first time. While reducing emissions is core to combating this catastrophic trend, we clearly need to do more.


Carbon removal technologies offer a realistic pathway to permanently reverse legacy emissions and address carbon dioxide released by sectors where reaching net zero is not yet feasible, giving us a fighting chance to reduce our global dependency on fossil fuels and other sources of carbon pollution. The voluntary carbon market (VCM) plays an essential role in this equation, providing a marketplace where organizations can proactively purchase carbon removals to offset the CO2 generated by their operations – particularly for hard-to-abate industries.


While the VCM is still relatively nascent, carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) are expected to represent more than a $1 trillion market opportunity by 2050. In order to meet the growing needs of this market, it’s important to keep tabs on how customer preferences are evolving. Let’s take a look at three key insights* gleaned from the 2024 market, including what CDR buyers are looking for in 2025.



2024 VCM Insight #1: Bigger and better – but not broader


Engineered carbon removals, like those generated from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air capture (DAC) technologies, are reliable, measurable, and permanent – and in 2024, the market was clearly on the same page. Engineered CDRs captured significantly more of the market through bigger transactions, although the market saw fewer total transactions overall.


While the total number of VCM transactions dropped by 35% – mainly due to fewer transactions for DAC, enhanced weathering, and bio-oil – the total volume for engineered removals grew by an impressive 66% year-over-year (YOY). The average deal size ballooned by 155%, and 12 of the 20 biggest deals to date took place in 2024.

In 2024, total volume for engineered carbon removals grew 66% year-over-year.

2024 VCM Insight #2: BECCS is queen


So, what CDR technology was responsible for driving the most market growth last year? As it turns out, BECCS was the go-to solution for large volume carbon removal purchasers and the largest driver of market growth overall.


In 2024, BECCS volume rose 84% from the previous year, with transactions up 156%. In fact, three of the five biggest customer deals last year were predicated on BECCS-based carbon removals, including:


BECCS permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere, and at the same time it generates 24/7 renewable power. This provides an additional revenue stream to the project, while adding a green energy source to the grid in support of increasing load growth. In short, BECCS-derived removals produce scalable, high-quality CDRs and green energy.


Interestingly, BECCS wasn’t the only biomass-fueled solution with increased transactions in 2024 – biochar and biomass removal also saw YOY growth. This success is well-positioned to continue into 2025. For example, biofuels – which are derived from biomass – were just named as one of the only preferred non-fossil fuel energy solutions in President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration, alongside hydro, geothermal, and nuclear. This paves the way for additional growth, while intermittent renewables like wind and solar face new headwinds.

2024 VCM Insight #3: What buyers want to see


In order for the voluntary carbon market to continue to mature, customers need ways to increase confidence in their purchases. To accomplish this, buyers are increasingly turning to:

  • Proven, reliable technologies like BECCS: Purchasers want to ensure their investments are truly permanent, measurable, and auditable.
  • More established suppliers: Investing in smaller, niche projects can increase risk and raise red flags during the corporate vetting process. By going with experienced providers, customers can have greater confidence that projects will reach completion and operate as planned.
  • Offerings with greater pricing transparency and standardization: Customers want to ensure they’re landing fair market rates. As they see prices settle into consistent ranges, confidence will rise.


The 2024 VCM clearly shows us that customers are increasingly turning to high-quality carbon removals – predominantly from biomass-fueled solutions like BECCS – and they’re willing to make larger purchases when they trust the technology and supplier. Knowledgeable developers working to responsibly develop and construct projects and provide clear insight into the quality of the product they are producing, including how those products contribute to the net zero journey, will earn customer confidence. In turn, this will help expedite the reversal of the legacy emissions warming our planet, giving us a fighting chance against climate change.


I invite you to join us in removing carbon for good. Visit elimini.com to learn more.



*Source: CDR.fyi to December 31, 2024