A proposed piece of legislation in the US Senate could give a significant boost to carbon removal projects that rely on biomass by offering a dedicated federal tax credit.
Introduced by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies (CREST) Act aims to recognize biomass as a key player in the country’s carbon management strategy.
The bill outlines a new tax credit designed specifically for systems that capture and securely store carbon from biogenic sources.
Eligible methods would include geological storage as well as the use of durable carbon-based materials like biochar and biocarbon.
While modeled after the well-known Section 45Q tax credit — which currently supports carbon capture from fossil fuel-based processes — the CREST Act would cater specifically to carbon removal technologies, with a focus on biomass pathways such as combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis. These methods are often left out of existing carbon policy frameworks.
Should the legislation pass, it would provide long-term financial clarity for developers of biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) projects.
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It would also strengthen the investment case for such projects by decreasing dependence on fluctuating voluntary carbon markets.
The bill is still in the early stages of legislative review, but it has already attracted attention from clean tech investors and environmental advocates alike, who see it as a potential catalyst for expanding US leadership in negative emissions technologies.
Senator Heinrich stated: “To meet our net-zero targets, we must accelerate carbon removal technologies and build the infrastructure to store those emissions securely. The CREST Act ensures that biomass-based solutions have the support they need to scale.”
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