Puro.earth, a self-appointed “carbon-removal certifier,” is seeking to establish a new accredited means of carbon sequestration: dumping bundled biomass (wood or crop waste) into the ocean.
At least two companies are already selling carbon credits based on plans to dump biomass in the Black Sea. But “ocean storage of biomass” (OSB) lacks scientific verification and highlights the risks of commercializing unproven climate interventions.
The idea is that “degradation-resistant biomass” would be dumped into the Black Sea basin, where anoxic (oxygen-free) conditions would further slow or even halt degradation. As a result, the approach’s proponents claim, the carbon would effectively be removed from the biological cycle for over 1,000 years, with minimal environmental impact. But there is no scientific evidence that this is true.
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