Member Spotlight: Nori and the Blended Tonne Approach for Carbon Removal

Nori published a white paper about a “blended tonne” earlier this summer. We sat down with Radhika Moolgavkar at Nori to unpack what the blended tonne is all about and what’s ahead for Nori. Nori is a carbon removal marketplace and recently joined the Carbon Business Council as a Cornerstone member.

Nori released a white paper about a “blended tonne.” Can you tell us more about what this means?

The blended tonne combines the two components of the carbon cycle —  fast and slow. The “fast carbon” cycle is measured in a lifespan; this includes carbon removal like soil and forestry and is understood and available today.  Simplistically, the “slow carbon” cycle returns carbon to rocks where it is stored for milennia; this includes carbon removal like DAC and mineralization. 

Most of humans’ emissions are “slow carbon” (e.g. burning fossil fuels) but the corresponding slow-cycle carbon removal and storage solutions are in short supply.  Most slow carbon removal credits on the market today are pre-selling future vintages that will not be delivered for several years (see tonnes delivered vs. tonnes sold here). This means that although the carbon removed will be stored for 1,000+ years, it won’t actually be removed from the atmosphere until a future date. 

To allow companies to take climate action now and make net-zero claims,  Nori developed the blended tonne. Think of it as a hybrid credit — each blended tonne pairs a fast-cycle carbon removal credit that’s available today with a future slow-cycle carbon removal credit. The credits are specifically paired to ensure overlapping storage timelines, so carbon is sequestered today while meeting the permanency requirements of net-zero standards 

We unpack this, carbon cycles, and the nature-as-a-bridge-to-permanent-CDR approach in greater detail the white paper.

How can the blended tonne help to scale the removals market?

I think one of the hardest parts of ESG, and sustainability generally, is the amount of knowledge that people need for quality purchasing. The burden is currently on companies to become experts in something that is not their core business.

The blended tonne removes this  friction. We believe this  allows companies who may have been hesitant about carbon removal credits to participate in the market by  bringing them a product that is very easy to understand. 

These blended tonnes can be used 1:1 to credibly compensate for emissions — if they know how many emissions tonnes they’re trying to negate, they simply buy an equivalent number of these blended tonnes to support net-zero claims. They don’t need to wait for the permanent carbon removal to be delivered in 2027, for example, they can use blended tonnes to address present-day emissions. We do the heavy lifting for them.

Our belief is that the key to unlocking this market is helping it become ‘frictionless’ - creating a commodity market that allows people to understand what they are purchasing, without having to develop in-house expertise with the various methodologies.

How does the blended tonne relate to government policy?

The blended tonne is relevant to governments who begin procuring carbon removal credits by making it easy to understand what they are purchasing, the cost, and the value. It should allow a government to purchase carbon credits like they would purchase any other product.

Nori has been collecting feedback on the white paper you released. What type of input has been coming in? 

The feedback has been generally positive. The biggest issues we are working on are: 1) How do we ensure that companies keep their commitments to purchase the carbon removal (particularly if they are using the blended tonne for net-zero claims);  and 2) How do we mitigate the risk of  suppliers being unable to fulfill their commitments? 

Nori has had a long-held position that carbon removal policies should be method-neutral, which is also reflected in the blended tonne concept. Can you tell us more about why you support a level playing field?

Nori is carbon removal agnostic for multiple reasons. We fundamentally believe all types of carbon removal are required to successfully fight climate change. Right now soil and forestry are scalable, understood and necessary to mitigate the worst outcomes of climate change.  But it is important to support permanent carbon removal because geological formations are where the vast majority of emitted carbon originated from.  Additionally,  we believe that as the marketplace matures, choice within carbon removal methodologies will be important to buyers. 

What else is ahead for Nori?

We have some very promising sources of slow cycle carbon credit partnerships and hope to be able to share more about these soon.

If someone is interested in learning more, what is the best way for them to find more info and/or engage on the blended tonne?

They can read our Blended Tonne Whitepaper  and listen to the Reversing Climate Change Podcast episode about it to learn more. They can also email hello@nori.com if they want to share feedback,  thoughts, or questions.