This article appeared first in Carbon Capture Magazine
By Laura Wente, SVP, Commercial at Elimini
In the third quarter of 2025, the Trump administration continued to deprioritize intermittent renewables like wind and solar under the banner of lowering energy costs and establishing energy dominance. Despite the shift, the private sector continued to build momentum on decarbonization, demonstrated by steady growth in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) in Q3. Notwithstanding the shift in political support in the US, 23 companies purchased engineered removals for the first time – more than the entirety of new VCM entrants in 2024.
The VCM entered the quarter with renewed momentum and a clear signal toward the continuation of maturing demand. Record trading volumes in August, the largest biomass-based geological sequestration deal to date, and a surge of first-time corporate buyers – many likely driven by strategies to address Scope 3 emissions and net-zero commitments – show a market expanding in both scale and sophistication. With more types of removals gaining traction and a broader customer base, belief in the market and solid fundamentals are aligning for continued growth.
Q3 2025 Insight #1: Microsoft Continues its Dominance with Historic Biomass Deal
The third quarter of 2025 began with unprecedented momentum. July alone accounted for 8 million tonnes (Mt) of engineered Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDR) purchases, one of the largest single-month totals ever recorded. The pace slowed sharply in August to 0.2 Mt and September to 0.1 Mt, aligning with indications that Microsoft may be wrapping up its annual procurement cycle, having already anchored the market’s largest deals earlier in the year.
Even with fewer deals this quarter, Microsoft remained the market’s biggest buyer by a mile, accounting for 7.9 Mt of the 8.3 Mt total transacted volume in Q3. The tech giant struck a landmark agreement with Vaulted Deep for 4.9 Mt of biomass geological sequestration over 12 years – the largest biomass storage deal ever recorded, and the second-largest engineered CDR deal to date overall.
The Vaulted Deep transaction – in addition to major bioenergy with carbon capture and storage deals – underscores growing investor confidence in biomass-based carbon removal solutions and signals that corporate climate leaders are looking for scalable and verifiable decarbonization pathways as they advance toward impending climate milestones.
Q3 2025 Insight #2: BECCS Keeps Its Crown...For Now
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) continued to dominate the engineered removals market, now representing 66% of all-time CDR volume. Notably, this figure is down from the previous quarter’s 74%, thanks to a more diversified set of engineered CDR deals that included biomass, biochar, and DAC.
New partnerships to bring CDR projects online this quarter included Elimini’s two agreements with Greater Copenhagen’s public utility, HOFOR, through which Elimini will explore the development of a large-scale BECCS facility at the Amagerværket 4 (AMV4) combined heat and power plant in Copenhagen and also market the CDRs. The AMV4 facility currently generates 9.900TJ heat, equivalent to 25 percent of Copenhagen’s district heating, and 670 GWh of renewable electricity annually, using sustainable biomass. The CCS retrofit to AMV4 would add technology to capture thousands of tons of CO2 while producing durable BECCS carbon removal credits.
BECCS’ staying power reflects its unique blend of technical maturity, CO2 capture permanence, and scalability – qualities increasingly valued by corporate buyers aiming for credible pathways to net zero. The market’s BECCS momentum also reflects growing familiarity and financial confidence from both investors and developers who see BECCS as a foundation for future CDR portfolios.
Q3 2025 Insight #3: Biomass Sequestration Surges Past Biochar
While Microsoft continues to dominate the buyer side of the VCM through total volume and tenor purchased, the top six deals of Q3 showcase the diverse range of suppliers and removal types. Those deals came from six different suppliers across four different types of CDRs.
- 4.9M tonnes of biomass from Vaulted Deep
- 2.9M tonnes of BECCS from Gaia Project Co
- 116K tonnes of BECCS from Arbor
- 50K tonnes of biochar from Greenglow
- 50K tonnes of biomass from Vaulted Deep
- 25K tonnes of DAC from Climeworks
Biomass geological sequestration, a form of carbon removal in which biomass is used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground in geologic formations, overtook biochar as the second-largest removal method by contracted volume, though biochar continues to dominate in deliveries. Together with BECCS, these biomass-based methods are now driving the bulk of market growth, underscoring the increasing role of sustainable biomass as a cornerstone of engineered removals.
Q3 2025 Insight #4: Buyer Diversity Expands Rapidly
The third quarter also saw the largest influx of new buyers on record. Twenty-three first-time participants entered the engineered CDR market this quarter, including Barclays, Palo Alto Networks, Schneider Electric, and AstraZeneca.
This growth in buyer diversity is notable; 74 new buyers have joined the market so far in 2025, compared to only 10 across all of 2024. Such expansion demonstrates widening confidence in engineered CDRs as a legitimate and necessary part of corporate climate strategies, moving beyond early adopters in tech and heavy industry. It also shows that, despite political and cultural shifts that tend to dominate headlines, a growing number of companies are undeterred in their climate efforts, stealthily moving toward more sustainable operations.
The Road Ahead
The data from Q3 reflects that, despite varied political views, the CDR market remains a focus for some corporates. As the market matures, attention now turns to its natural next phase of progress: pricing transparency, technology diversification, and buyer variety.
Several notable companies dipped their toes in the VCM for the first time this quarter. This growing roster of new entrants signals that 2026 could be the year the VCM’s engineered removals sector reaches the trial stage of market adoption. While Microsoft continues to lead the corporate world in CDR deals, the companies entering the market for the first time are offering another essential mark of maturation: diversification. The engineered CDR market is becoming progressively less defined by a handful of corporate pioneers, which is an essential step for the industry’s scalability and resilience.
The message from the VCM in Q3 2025 is clear: momentum is building, confidence is broadening, and biomass-based solutions are finding an important path forward.
11.10.25