Nori

A little more than 7 years after co-founding Nori, I've finally found the words to share our journey's end. This September, we wound down operations and sold off our final assets. When I started my carbon removal meetup in 2015, large-scale removal wasn't even considered possible. We were just a dozen people meeting monthly in Seattle, sharing whatever papers and articles we could find about pulling CO2 from the atmosphere. There wasn't even a term for it yet—we called it carbon capture because "carbon removal" hadn't entered the lexicon. That small meetup launched me into a hackathon and then eventually a company with six cofounders that became something remarkable. We built one of the first carbon removal marketplaces, created the first soil carbon methodology focused on removal, raised $20M, grew to a 30-person team, accounted for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 stored in soils, and helped catalyze an entirely new industry. We had finally cracked the supply-side challenge with hundreds of thousands of carbon removal credits from our Bayer partnership to sell and were ramping up our sales engine when we ultimately ran into the headwinds facing the voluntary carbon market, and investors pulled back just as we needed additional runway. The last two years have been profoundly difficult for me personally, experiencing three distinct waves of grief: stepping down as CEO, leaving the company, and finally, winding it down. But looking back at what I told our advisor in 2017—that I'd be happy if all we did was kick off the carbon removal industry—I'm proud to say we succeeded beyond all possible expectations. I've written two pieces about this journey and the critical lessons learned: 1. The $2.5M governance mistake that contributed to our end?https://lnkd.in/gGUUN3Gm 2. Reflections on pioneering carbon removal and what comes next?https://lnkd.in/gZHrTXCK These experiences inspired my new newsletter "Inevitable & Obvious," focused on helping founders create categories that don't exist yet. I learned a lot of very expensive lessons, and I want to share them so that others don't have to learn them the hard way. Subscribe here:?https://lnkd.in/g7RnMnXT #startups #climatetech #lessons #entrepreneurship

Tom Previte, founder of UK biochar startup Restord and co-host of The Carbon Removal Show, is on Reversing Climate Change this week to talk about the complexities of biochar production, the challenges of starting a climate-focused business, and more. Learn about Tom’s experience in launching a biochar startup in the UK countryside and his insights on the importance of storytelling in climate communication — in his podcast hosting and beyond. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gcfDF7kd

In 2023, biochar represented 94% of delivered durable carbon removal —?and the industry is growing fast. What do 1,000 experts think is next for biochar? In this episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, producer and guest host Asa Kamer talks with Myles Gray, P.E., program director of the US Biochar Initiative, about their 2023 Global Biochar Market Report. Myles and Asa discuss biochar’s production scale, market dynamics, economic challenges, and the growing number of biochar producers, particularly in the Global South. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gqXVbq9k

Earlier this week, we announced that we added an unprecedented number of soil carbon removal credits to Nori’s marketplace from the Bayer Carbon Program. With this volume of credits, climate-conscious companies have the opportunity to support regenerative agriculture and carbon removal at scale. Each credit represents the removal of approximately one tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere through regenerative farming practices, with 10+ years of carbon storage. The credits are third-party verified and boast co-benefits such as supporting soil health, helping reduce erosion, and increasing soil water availability. Learn more in our full press release: https://lnkd.in/eB6yFC9a

What’s the current paradigm for carbon removal? How should CDR be conducted, measured, and incentivized? Is the current system working, or does it need restructuring? On a new episode of Reversing Climate Change with Holly Jean Buck, Anu Khan, and host Ross Kenyon, these ideas are explored through the lens of two philosophical works: Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and Paul Feyerabend's Against Method. Tune in for a discussion on how paradigms come to be, why we should protect competing systems of knowledge, and more in the context of carbon removal and climate change. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eNtkr_5S

Researchers studied a bacteria that can reduce the nitrous oxide in soil without disrupting other microbes — a potential tool for reducing emissions associated with agriculture. ?? ? A pound of nitrous oxide can warm the atmosphere 265 times more than a pound of carbon dioxide, and it can remain in the atmosphere for 100+ years. ? Agriculture is one of the top sources of emissions, comprising 22% of global GHG emissions in 2019. ? However, it also has massive potential to sequester CO2 and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Estimates suggest that it can draw down over a billion tonnes of CO2 every year. ? Regenerative agriculture practices — such as low/no-till, cover crops, and crop rotations — are key in sequestering CO2, minimizing agricultural emissions, and restoring soil health along the way. ? Research findings like this one help advance agriculture as a climate solution and reduce its GHG emissions. ?? ? https://lnkd.in/gHm7yXWG

We’re excited to announce that we’ve added more than 125,000 soil carbon removal credits to our marketplace from the Bayer Carbon Program — with more than 240,000 credits in the pipeline for later this year. ???? This represents an unprecedented expansion to Nori’s carbon removal supply while adding significant supply across the soil organic carbon market as a whole. “Being able to establish relationships like the one we have with Nori is essential to helping turn farmers’ regenerative agriculture efforts into tangible credits that can provide monetary value to these practices and further help stand up carbon markets,” said Leonardo Bastos, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Ecosystem Services at Bayer. “This squarely aligns with Bayer’s goal of scaling regenerative agriculture to help farmers produce more while helping restore the planet.” Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/eB6yFC9a

What’s the current corporate understanding of carbon dioxide removal (CDR)? What are the knowledge gaps stalling corporations from incorporating CDR into their climate strategies? Dr. Gabrielle Walker, Co-Founder of the carbon removal marketplace CUR8 and the Founder of Rethinking Removals, recently joined Nori’s Radhika Moolgavkar, JD on Carbon Removal Newsroom to discuss the state of corporate carbon removal demand and more. Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/ggYtpkDp

What does the experience of war have to teach us in a climate-changing world? How does religion tie in? This week on Reversing Climate Change, host Ross Kenyon is joined by Karl Marlantes — author, Rhodes Scholar, and Vietnam War veteran. Karl is featured extensively in the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary series, The Vietnam War. His memoir, What It Is Like to Go to War, and novel, Matterhorn, address the multifaceted truth of what it means to be a warrior. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gF3DesnV

Some of our favorite Carbon Removal Memes from May??