Dive Brief:
- JPMorgan Chase has agreed to purchase 60,000 metric tons of carbon credits from carbon removal company Graphyte, in a 10-year deal announced Thursday. The company’s process relies on compressing and sequestering biomass waste from timber and farming operations.
- Over the course of the contract, JPMorgan will receive the credits from Graphyte’s operational Arkansas project, Project Loblolly, as well as a second project being developed in Arizona, according to the release.
- The deal adds to JPMorgan’s carbon credit portfolio, which includes investments in technologies and pathways like afforestation, biochar and bio-oil sequestration, according to its latest sustainability report. In addition to emissions reduction efforts, the bank uses voluntary carbon credits to offset its remaining operational emissions.
Dive Insight:
Graphyte uses a proprietary carbon removal process it calls “carbon casting,” which sequesters condensed carbon-rich blocks of dried biomass waste — wrapped to ensure they do not decompose — underground, according to its website. The company’s financial backers include Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and climate-focused investors Prelude Ventures and Carbon Direct Capital, according to its website.
JPMorgan Head of Operational Sustainability Taylor Wright said in the April 9 press release that Graphyte’s approach “represents an innovative pathway to address emissions while generating economic opportunities for communities.”
Wright said the bank is “focused on supporting the development of high-quality, durable carbon removal solutions that can both scale over time and have potential benefits beyond carbon removal.”
By using waste from timber projects and agricultural residue, Graphyte said its carbon casting process can benefit local farmers and mill operators, as well as aid corporate sustainability programs. The carbon removal company said it has made all of its credit deliveries on time thus far and Project Loblolly delivered 15,000 carbon removal credits in 2025, according to the release.
“This agreement demonstrates the growing confidence and momentum behind CDR solutions that are not only scientifically robust, but also immediately deployable and economically viable,” Graphyte CEO Barclay Rogers said in the release.
JPMorgan’s carbon credit portfolio includes deals with bio-oil sequestration company Vaulted Deep and forest management removals from Carbon Direct, according to a disclosure. Last year the bank also signed an agreement with carbon credit developer CO280 to retrofit paper and pulp mills with carbon capture that was priced under $200 per ton, one of the lowest-ever for an engineered solution, the Carbon Herald reported at the time.
Separate from its investments in carbon credits, JPMorgan has a goal of investing $1 trillion in climate initiatives and sustainable resource management by 2030, and the bank has invested $309 billion towards that goal between 2021-24, according to its latest sustainability report.
So far this year, the bank’s investments include participating in a $421 million non-recourse debt finance facility for geothermal energy company Fervo in development Utah plant and providing clean iron manufacturer Electra $30 million in new financing.
Last week, the bank announced a $600,000 grant to help scale Atlanta’s clean tech workforce and startup ecosystem. The investment aims to support workforce development programs at local universities, as well as help with the site identification and feasibility planning of a clean tech startup hub.
