The Ithaka Institute is a non-profit research organization for carbon strategies, headquartered in Europe with independent entities in Switzerland, Germany, the USA, and Nepal. Over the past 15 years, the institute has become a leading developer in atmospheric carbon cycling, nano-carbon materials, carbon farming, and climate mitigation strategy.
Ithaka established the European Biochar Certificate (2012) and developed the first C-sink standards (2020) - for biochar, enhanced weathering, agroforestry, and construction materials. The institute conducts technical audits for pyrolysis producers globally and advises corporations, municipalities, and national agencies on CDR certification, carbon policy, and climate adaptation.
Applied research spans from biomass production and its transformation to biochar, to biochar application. The 55 Uses of Biochar, first published 2012 by the institute, was and remains a pacemaker for the industry. In South Asia and Latin America, the institute works on food security, soil fertility, agroforestry, and climate-resilient farming — operating a globally unique comparative carbon farming experiment in Nepal.
The institute's roots lie in viticulture. With vineyards in Andalusia, the South of France, and the Swiss Alps, Ithaka conducts practical research adapting high-quality natural winemaking to climate change.
How we work
The Ithaka Institute functions as a scientific network. Its researchers are linked across disciplines - geology, engineering, material science, tropical agriculture, climate science - forming a working ecosystem rather than a collection of departments. Ithaka's laboratories are in Zurich and close to Frankfurt; its field sites are in the forests, farms, and cities where carbon strategies must actually hold up.
Research results are published in peer-reviewed journals. The ideas behind them — and the practical consequences — are developed openly in the Ithaka Journal and the Biochar Journal, where science stays close to application and accessible beyond academia.
