Growing Climate Solutions: We’re Building a Biochar Carbon Removal Facility ARC Middenmeer
When you stand in the middle of a Dutch greenhouse, you can feel the future of food all around you. Rows upon rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, grown with incredible precision and efficiency. Dutch horticulture has become a cornerstone of Europe’s food supply, and a global symbol of innovation.
But there’s a challenge. Feeding millions while facing rising energy demands, supply chain disruptions, and the urgency of climate change. The question is not whether the sector can adapt, but how fast.
At Carbo Culture, we believe the answer lies in building solutions that serve both people and the planet, today, at scale, and for the long term. That’s why we’re building ARC Middenmeer.
The magic of doable
ARC Middenmeer isn’t just a carbon removal facility. It’s an experiment in what the next era of climate technology should look like: practical, efficient, systemic, and deeply connected to the industries it serves. Here’s what it means in numbers:
- 20,000+ tonnes of CO₂ permanently removed every year
- 16 MW of renewable energy for greenhouses
- 40,000 m³ of horticultural-grade biochar annually
Our biochar is used first as a substrate in greenhouses, improving soil health and reducing dependence on imported inputs. Then, once its role in growing food is complete, it goes on to store carbon for over 1,000 years in open fields.
One material, many lives, a cascading, resource efficient solution for food, energy, and climate.
Location, location, location
We couldn’t imagine a better location than ECW Energy in Middenmeer in North Holland. Here, innovation is the norm. The ECW Energy cluster hosts more than 600 hectares of greenhouses, two data centers, and over 400 MW of energy capacity in wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and natural gas. Our partners have served as trailblazers before.
Robert Kielstra, CEO, ECW Energy: “We aim to be a launching customer for new technologies. Carbo Culture’s biogenic heat and electricity perfectly complement our sustainably produced energy portfolio.”
Our partners, ECW Energy and Royalpride, embody the spirit of innovation. Together, we’re proving that industrial-scale carbon removal can be embedded seamlessly into the food systems and energy grids we rely on.
As Koert van den Ende of Royalpride said: “This project is an excellent example of progressive technology for greenhouse horticulture.”
Why now
Carbon removal has long been seen as something for the future, something to figure out later. But the climate crisis doesn’t wait.
The European Union is moving forward with frameworks like the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) and discussions about integrating permanent removals into the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
ARC Middenmeer is a signal: it’s real, and we’re building it. We can build facilities that lock away carbon, power industries with clean energy, and reduce reliance on imports and strengthen local economies, all at once.
Blueprint for replication
At Carbo Culture, our vision is simple but ambitious: scale a new industry of biochar carbon removal.
ARC Middenmeer is our first build together with the world-leading horticultural industry. Our partners are helping us pave the way to a whole new concept, serving the high-tech agriculture space, providing biochar, energy and carbon removal to the greenhouse growers and food industry.
We are building solutions that don’t just remove carbon, but also serve functional products displacing less sustainable ones.
The future is being built, and sometimes, it looks like a greenhouse in North Holland filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, clean energy, and a little black material called biochar.
👉 Learn more about ARC Middenmeer, press kit and media contacts: arc@carboculture.com; press@carboculture.com
✨ Carbo Culture is building scalable biochar carbon removal factories with our proprietary Carbolysis™ technology. We’re locking carbon away permanently, while helping industries transition to a circular, sustainable future.