KPMG Buys Biochar Carbon Removal Credits From ReGenerate

KPMG has purchased biochar carbon removal credits from ReGenerate, a United States bioenergy company that converts low-value wood residues from local logging and wood product industries into renewable power and biochar. Neither the credit volume nor the investment amount was disclosed.

Private equity platform Ember announced the transaction this week, noting that ClearSky Limited facilitated the sale. For the carbon removal market, the deal is another data point in a familiar pattern: corporate buyers are adding biochar credits to their sustainability strategies and their climate targets for the coming years.

What is ReGenerate actually selling?

ReGenerate, based in the United States, runs bioenergy operations that take low-value wood residues from local logging and wood product industries as feedstock. The material feeds production of renewable power and biochar. Its operations are certified under Puro.earth's biochar methodology, which supplies the verification layer that makes the credits marketable to buyers such as KPMG.

The company's flagship asset is the Livermore Falls facility in Maine, which produces approximately 284,000 MWh of renewable energy annually, according to ReGenerate. The biochar generated at the site is deployed as sustainable landfill cover, and the company says its team is exploring other possible applications for the material.

That second point matters for anyone tracking the biochar segment. Landfill cover is a functional outlet, but it is a modest one. Durable offtake into soil, construction or industrial applications would change the economics of the material stream considerably. Exploration, for now, is the operative word.

Who is behind the company?

ReGenerate is a portfolio company of Ember, a private equity firm that invests in infrastructure solutions it expects to increase resource efficiency and enhance business resilience. Ember's stated interest spans four sectors:

• energy transition
• water
• waste
• industrials and agriculture

Ember describes its approach as providing financial solutions that enable growth and create value, with a preference for long-term relationships and direct industry engagement. ReGenerate sits alongside portfolio names such as Advanced Recycling Technologies, H2O Innovation, Earthwise, Ground/Water Treatment & Technology, LID Tech and OnSyte Performance.

The company traces its origin to 2021, when ReEnergy Biomass Operations and Ember Infrastructure announced plans for a joint venture to develop what they called an industry-leading bioenergy platform. That partnership produced ReGenerate Energy, which acquired an ownership interest in two facilities: ReEnergy Stratton and ReEnergy Livermore Falls.

At the time of the joint venture announcement, ReEnergy Biomass Operations and Ember also shared plans to expand the platform through the acquisition of additional bioenergy assets across the North American market. No follow-on acquisitions have been announced since.

What does the deal signal?

The KPMG transaction continues a trend of corporate buyers investing in biochar carbon credits as part of sustainability strategies and climate goals. The buyer is a Big Four accounting firm, not a heavy industrial emitter, which says something about how removal credits are being positioned: as a broad corporate procurement category rather than a niche compliance instrument.

The undisclosed volume limits what the market can read into the price or scale. Opacity is not a milestone.

The next thing to watch is whether ReGenerate converts its exploration of non-landfill biochar applications into contracted offtake, and whether Ember makes good on its stated plan to acquire further North American bioenergy assets. Either would move the story from announcement to built capacity.