Puro.earth, the world’s leading market infrastructure provider for engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR), on July 21 announced the certification and issuance of CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) for the VEAS wastewater treatment plant project in Norway, developed by Inherit Carbon Solutions.

The project is the world’s first project in which biogenic CO2 released during biogas production is captured and permanently stored geologically - a new approach for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). This also marks Puro.earth's first certification for a BECCS facility in Europe.

The certification recognizes Inherit’s innovative and robust approach to carbon removal, ensuring the long-term sequestration of carbon by capturing biogenic CO2 released during biogas production and storing it permanently in geological formations, where it remains securely locked away for thousands of years. It also demonstrates the viability of a new approach to engineered carbon removal: by connecting existing biogas infrastructure with dedicated CO2 transport and storage, the project uniquely turns a byproduct of wastewater treatment into permanent, verifiable carbon removal – a model that can be replicated across the biogas sector globally.

Following validation and verification under Puro.earth’s Geologically Stored Carbon methodology (Edition 2024), including audit by a third-party validation and verification body (VVB), the project has been issued more than 700 CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) in the public Puro Registry, covering its first four months of operation, from February to May 2026. Ongoing monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) will underpin frequent CORC issuances, supporting deliveries to offtakers as the project progresses and matures.

The VEAS project is a collaboration between Inherit Carbon Solutions, the project developer; HoopCO2, which operates the capture and liquefaction facility; and Northern Lights JV, which provides transport and permanent offshore storage.

From wastewater to permanent storage

The CO2 originates from the VEAS wastewater treatment plant in Slemmestad, Norway's largest, which processes wastewater from more than 800,000 residents across Oslo, Bærum and Asker. As organic material is processed in VEAS's biogas production unit, biogenic CO2 is released as a natural byproduct of the process.

Under the JV, HoopCO2 operates the capture and liquefaction facility to collect CO2 for permanent storage. The liquefied CO2 is transported by road to Northern Lights' receiving terminal in Øygarden, west of Bergen, where Inherit offloads the trucks into intermediary onshore storage. From there, Northern Lights transports the CO2 offshore by pipeline for permanent storage 2,600 meters below the seabed.

Northern Lights has stored fossil-based CO2 permanently offshore since August 2025 and is the world's first initiative to offer CO2 transport and storage as a commercial service. The VEAS project is the first instance that Northern Lights is storing biogenic CO2. It will receive up to 7,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from VEAS over the agreement period with Inherit, the starting point for future scale at the site.

As one of the first BECCS projects in the Nordics, the VEAS project offers a real-world reference point for buyers, governments and partners - proof that durable carbon removal built on existing infrastructure is not just technically feasible, but investable, operational and already being integrated into corporate climate strategies. Smaller in scale and faster to deploy than larger facilities with longer development timelines, projects like this offer a flexible, scalable pathway to durable carbon removal.

Jan-Willem Bode, president, Puro.earth, commented, “Inherit’s issuance shows what's possible when biogas infrastructure and carbon storage infrastructure are combined through one succinct process. Biogenic CO2 that would otherwise have been released is instead captured and permanently stored. This is exactly the kind of innovative approach to BECCS that the Puro Standard and Registry was built for. Inherit is a true pioneer in this field, and we're proud to certify the world's first project of its kind. With the scale of biogas production across Norway, the Nordics and more widely across Europe, the potential for BECCS regionally is significant."

Kaja Voss, CEO, Inherit Carbon Solutions added, "Working with Puro.earth through this certification has given us a clear and credible pathway to bring these credits to market. This project shows just how much potential there is across the biogas supply chain for capturing and permanently storing biogenic CO2. The collaboration with HoopCO2 and Northern Lights has been strong, and we're excited about what this pilot means for scaling biogenic CO2 removal from biogas facilities more broadly."

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Puro.earth certifies world's first permanent carbon removal from biogas production, developed by Inherit Carbon Solutions

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