Milestones of Ithaka

Since 2007, the Ithaka Institute has developed standards, technologies, and scientific concepts that helped turn biochar into the largest operational method for carbon dioxide removal. Along the way, the partnerships behind this work grew into a global scientific community — researchers, engineers, farmers, and certifiers who together built an industry that did not exist two decades ago. Here are 13 milestones that probably mattered most.

2007  - First European biochar field trial established in the Mythopia vineyard (Valais, Switzerland).

2009  - Foundation of the Ithaka Journal. First guidelines and label for viticulture in high biodiversity, since adopted by over 100 wineries across eight European countries.

2012  - Creation of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC), the first independent certification system for biochar quality. Publication of “55 Uses of Biochar,” which redefined biochar as a multi-purpose industrial material beyond agriculture.

2014  - Development of the Kon-Tiki flame-curtain kiln. Since adopted in more than 100 countries on all inhabited continents, it is the most productive biochar production solution in the world.

2015  - Scientific proof that low-dosage, nutrient-enhanced biochar applied to the root zone can multiply crop yields — fourfold increase in pumpkin at just 750 kg/ha.

2017  - Publication in Nature Communications on the mechanism of nutrient retention in biochar-compost. Development of the PyCCS concept with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. First systematic series of 100+ activated biochars produced from diverse feedstocks (Empyrion project).

2018  - PyCCS paper published in GCB Bioenergy — the term has since generated 14,000+ search results and a Wikipedia entry. Two of the four biochar publications cited in the IPCC Special Report were produced with Ithaka involvement.

2020  - Introduction of the first C-Sink standard for the certification of biochar-based carbon removal.

2022  - Global Artisan C-Sink standard, enabling smallholder producers worldwide to certify carbon sinks. Global Rock C-Sink standard, the first certification for enhanced weathering.

2023  - Establishment of the Nepal carbon farming field trial — nine systems, 10 hectares, globally unique in scope. First World Cup victories in alpine snowboarding with NanoC-equipped boards.

2024  - Global Tree C-Sink standard for the certification of carbon sinks from agroforestry and reforestation. Proof that pyrolysis eliminates plastic contamination in biowaste (CoPyKu II).

2025  - Biochar permanence proxies established for use in decay models and certification (Hagemann et al.). Global Construction C-Sink standard developed — first certified building carbon sinks in Switzerland. Methane Calculator launched for offsetting methane emissions with temporary carbon sinks. Biochar established as scalable PFAS remediation pathway (Cornelissen et al.).

2026 - Publication in GCB Bioenergy of a time-explicit methodology for offsetting methane emissions with temporary carbon dioxide removal (Schmidt & Hagemann). The paper introduces the total climate effect (TCE) framework, providing a physically grounded basis for valuing temporary carbon sinks — directly relevant to the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation and Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.