JPMorganChase Signs 60,000-Ton Graphyte Deal to Scale Durable Biomass Carbon Removal Over 10 Years

JPMorganChase has signed a 10-year agreement with Graphyte to purchase 60,000 tons of durable carbon dioxide removal credits from US-based biomass sequestration projects, adding another long-duration offtake to the bank’s growing carbon removal portfolio. Graphyte said the credits will be supplied from its Project Loblolly facility in Arkansas and from its planned Project Ponderosa in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The deal matters because it combines long-term demand from a major financial institution with a carbon removal pathway that is already being deployed commercially rather than remaining at pilot stage. Graphyte says its “Carbon Casting” process dries and compresses biomass residues into dense carbon blocks, seals them in an impermeable barrier, and stores them in monitored underground sites to preserve the captured carbon with low energy use.

 

Why Graphyte’s model is drawing attention

 

Graphyte’s approach is built around agricultural and timber residues, which gives it a different profile from more energy-intensive carbon removal pathways such as direct air capture. According to the company and coverage of the JPMorganChase deal, the Arkansas-based startup uses residual biomass as the carbon source and is positioning the process as low-cost, scalable, and durable. The company was founded in 2023 and is based in Arkansas.

The specific project mix also adds an operational angle beyond carbon accounting alone. Graphyte says Project Loblolly uses residues from local farmers and mill operators in Arkansas, while Project Ponderosa is expected to use biomass from forest-thinning work in Arizona. Public commentary from JPMorganChase sustainability executive Heather Zichal indicates that the Flagstaff project is also being framed around forest health and local job support, alongside carbon storage.

 

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JPMorganChase keeps building a diversified carbon removal book

 

This is not a one-off move for JPMorganChase. Coverage of the agreement notes that the bank has been building a broader portfolio of carbon removal purchases across different technologies, including direct air capture and biomass-based removal, as well as through participation in Frontier. That suggests the bank is not backing a single carbon removal pathway, but is instead building exposure across multiple higher-durability options as the market develops.

For the wider market, that kind of buyer behaviour matters. Large institutions signing multi-year offtakes can help create the revenue certainty developers need to scale physical infrastructure, improve delivery confidence, and attract more project financing. In Graphyte’s case, the company has highlighted its track record of on-time credit deliveries, which may help explain why it is able to secure a 10-year agreement at this stage of market development.

 

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What the deal signals for the carbon removal market

 

The larger signal is that durable carbon removal demand is starting to move beyond headline-grabbing pilot purchases into more structured procurement by large corporate and financial buyers. A 60,000-ton agreement is still modest compared with the scale of global residual emissions, but it is meaningful in the current carbon removal market because it supports real project deployment and helps build confidence around commercially deliverable supply. This is an inference based on the deal size, the long-term contract structure, and Graphyte’s current project pipeline.

For Graphyte, the agreement strengthens its commercial credibility. For JPMorganChase, it reinforces a strategy focused on durable carbon removal solutions that can scale over time and deliver environmental benefits beyond carbon alone. The partnership also shows how biomass-based carbon storage is gaining more attention as buyers look for approaches that combine permanence, near-term deployability, and project economics that may be more accessible than some earlier-stage removal technologies.