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May saw continued activity across the CDR market, with issuance, retirements, and investment all growing month-on-month alongside a slight pullback in offtake volumes. Two large-scale BECCS procurements defined the demand side, private investment ticked up, and a UK government announcement of ~$69.5M across 14 CDR projects added meaningful public capital to the month's total.
Monthly highlights
- Offtake: 1,410,000 credits across 4 deals (MoM -14.40%)
- Investment: $48.1 million (MoM +9.82%)
- Issuance: 135,284 credits (MoM +6.39%)
- Retirements: 58,654 credits (MoM +2.81%)
Offtake
Total offtake reached 1,410,000 credits across four disclosed transactions, down 14.40% month-on-month, though the headline decline belies the significance of what was announced.
May was defined by two large-scale BECCS procurements. Microsoft signed an offtake with BioCirc for 650,000 BECCS credits, while the City of Stockholm signed a 750,000-credit agreement with Stockholm Exergi. Municipal procurement at this scale is rare in CDR. Stockholm becoming a direct buyer of removal credits, rather than routing through corporate intermediaries, points to a potential new buyer category beginning to formalize.
Lufthansa signed a multi-year mixed CDR deal via Senken, covering DAC (Deep Sky) and biochar (Exomad Green) pathways, with volume undisclosed. Varaha also brought 10,000 certified distributed biochar credits to market via Supercritical.
Deal mix skewed heavily toward BECCS by volume. Alongside the ClimeFi/Stockholm Exergi CRCF transaction in March, this month's City of Stockholm deal further underscores Stockholm Exergi's growing centrality as a BECCS supply anchor in Europe.
Investment
Total disclosed investment reached $48.1 million during the month, up 9.82% month-on-month.
Utilization and ocean alkalinity enhancement pathways captured the majority of private funding. CREW Carbon raised $25 million across a broad consortium including Burnt Island Ventures, AP Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Builders Vision, Kibo Invest, Idemitsu, and New York Ventures, the largest single raise of the month. Belgian deeptech D-CRBN secured approximately $20.3 million to scale its CO2-to-circular-carbon-molecules technology, backed by Astaia, SFPIM, and the EIC Accelerator. Smaller raises included $1.45 million for mineralization developer Arca and $1.35 million for biochar developer Restord.
Separately, the UK government announced approximately $69.5 million across 14 UK-based CDR projects, one of the more substantial single-government CDR allocations on record.
Total issuance reached 135,284 credits during the month, up 6.39% month-on-month.
The standout feature this month was an unusual near-parity between BECCS and biochar at the sector level. BECCS accounted for 45.70% of issuance, driven entirely by Net-Zero Richardton (Gevo), which issued 61,822 credits, the largest single issuer by a considerable margin. Biochar accounted for 46.05%, spread across a broad base including Carboneers (32,401), Exomad Green (10,068), Varaha (9,112), and a long tail of smaller developers.
In most recent months, biochar has dominated supply by share. The shift to near-parity reflects Gevo's continued issuance momentum from the Net-Zero Richardton facility. Tech-CDR issuance outside biomass-based pathways remained thin, with bio-other at 4.42%, utilization at 2.67%, and ERW at 1.16%.
Top 10 Issuers
Retirements
Total retirements reached 58,654 credits during the month, up 2.81% month-on-month. The retirements-to-issuance ratio came in at 43.36%, down slightly from April's 44.87%, meaning supply continues to outpace demand absorption, though the gap remains broadly stable.
Bain & Company led retirements with 4,167 credits, followed by BCG with 1,250. Consulting and professional services firms again dominated the leaderboard, a recurring pattern in CDR retirement data. Notable retirees also included GE Aerospace, Figma, JP Morgan Chase, The Economist, and Monzo Bank.
Top 10 Retirees
Looking Ahead
May's data points to a market consolidating around a clearer structure: BECCS and biochar anchoring supply, institutional and municipal buyers formalizing procurement, and public capital stepping in alongside private investment. The City of Stockholm deal is a signal worth watching.
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