{"id":38702,"date":"2026-02-08T17:58:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T16:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=38702"},"modified":"2026-02-08T18:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:00:39","slug":"eu-launches-revolutionary-crcf-framework-a-new-era-for-certified-carbon-removal-and-biochar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2026\/02\/08\/eu-launches-revolutionary-crcf-framework-a-new-era-for-certified-carbon-removal-and-biochar\/","title":{"rendered":"Biochar: EU introduces revolutionary CRCF framework: A new era for certified carbon removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Union has taken a major step towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050 approval<\/span><\/a> a voluntary Union certification framework for permanent carbon removal, carbon agriculture and carbon storage in products<\/strong>, known as CRCF<\/strong> (Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming). This system, established by Regulation (EU) 2024\/3012, brings uniform rules to ensure high integrity of activities removing CO2 from the atmosphere and to prevent environmentally misleading claims (so-called greenwashing).<\/p>\n

Three pillars of certification<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CRCF framework is designed to cover a wide range of activities divided into three main categories:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Permanent carbon removal:<\/strong> It includes technologies such as direct air capture (DACCS), biogenic capture with storage (BioCCS) and biochar carbon removal (BCR)<\/strong>. These activities must ensure the safe storage of carbon for several centuries.<\/li>\n
  2. Carbon Farming:<\/strong> It focuses on agricultural and forestry practices that increase soil carbon sequestration, including agroforestry<\/strong>, peatland restoration and better forest management.<\/li>\n
  3. Carbon storage in products:<\/strong> It certifies the carbon bound in materials, especially in wooden building elements, in the long term.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Strict quality criteria: QU.ALITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Each activity must meet four key quality criteria before certified units are issued:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Quantification:<\/strong> The net benefit of removal after deducting all emissions associated with the implementation of the project must be demonstrated.<\/li>\n
    • Additionality:<\/strong> The activity must go beyond normal legal practice and require certification as a financial incentive.<\/li>\n
    • Long-term storage:<\/strong> Monitoring of stored carbon and accountability for its possible premature release are required.<\/li>\n
    • Sustainability:<\/strong> Projects must not harm other environmental objectives and, in the case of biochar, must bring co-benefits for biodiversity or soil regeneration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Biochar: A Key Technology of Today<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Biochar is classified as a permanent carbon removal activity under the CRCF. The EU methodology requires it to be produced by pyrolysis of sustainable biomass at temperatures above 350\u00b0C<\/strong> and showed high stability (H\/Corg ratio lower than 0.7), which guarantees carbon storage for a minimum 200 years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      In addition to carbon sequestration itself, biochar brings significant environmental benefits:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Improving soil structure:<\/strong> It acts as a \u201esoil sponge,\u201c increasing water infiltration and retaining nutrients.<\/li>\n
      • Fighting erosion:<\/strong> Global studies confirm that biochar reduces surface runoff by 25 % and soil erosion by an average of 16 %, in arid areas by up to 65 %.<\/li>\n
      • Versatile use:<\/strong> Certified biochar can be applied to agricultural soils or mixed into construction materials such as concrete and asphalt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Certification process and the future of the market<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Those interested in certification must submit an action plan to a recognized certification scheme and undergo an independent audit by an accredited body. Recertification is mandatory at least every five years.<\/p>\n

        Although the CRCF framework is voluntary, its importance is underlined by the planned establishment of Union central registry by 2028<\/strong>, which will track all issued units. It is expected that after 2030, these high-quality certificates could be integrated into the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), paving the way for massive scaling of carbon removal projects across Europe. JRi&CO2AI\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Eur\u00f3pska \u00fania urobila z\u00e1sadn\u00fd krok smerom k dosiahnutiu klimatickej neutrality do roku 2050 schv\u00e1len\u00edm dobrovo\u013en\u00e9ho certifika\u010dn\u00e9ho r\u00e1mca \u00danie pre trval\u00e9 odstra\u0148ovanie uhl\u00edka, uhl\u00edkov\u00e9 p\u00f4dohospod\u00e1rstvo a ukladanie uhl\u00edka v produktoch, zn\u00e1meho ako CRCF (Carbon Removals and Carbon<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-znizovanie_co2_cdr_ccs_ccu_dac"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38702"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38707,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions\/38707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}