Senken secures major European biomass carbon removal deal

Senken, a Berlin-based carbon credit procurement platform, has signed a multi-year offtake agreement with Carbonsate to secure 50,000 tons of permanent carbon removal through biomass storage. This deal, the largest of its kind in Europe, involves burying waste wood in engineered underground chambers in Namibia to prevent emissions from decomposition and fire.

Deliveries from the Namibian site are scheduled to begin this year and continue through 2028. The agreement highlights a growing corporate demand for durable, high-integrity carbon removals as companies move away from simple avoidance credits to meet net-zero targets.

Broadly, the carbon capture sector in Europe is shifting focus from technical feasibility to commercial scalability. While the European Commission aims for 50 million tonnes of annual CO2 storage capacity by 2030, industry experts note that the primary barriers to scaling are now commercial, involving the need for shared transport networks, liability frameworks, and bankable long-term contracts to make industrial systems investable.