As the fastest growing plant on land, Bamboo has the capacity to extract record amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and sequester it in a long-lasting biological carbon sink, making it one of the most efficient nature-based solutions for tackling climate change.

Bamboo, being a grass, has a unique growing pattern that needs sustainable harvesting to fully realize its climate benefits. To optimize plant health, lifespan and carbon uptake, every year the oldest 1⁄4 of the bamboo culms needs to be harvested, while the rest of the plant remains. In case the elder poles would not be harvested, they will naturally dry out, die and decompose within the plant at around 7 years of age. During decomposition, the carbon that was stored within those culms will be released back into the atmosphere. However transforming the harvested culms into long-term construction materials or inactive biomass (biochar), provides a permanent carbon sink.

With the Carbon Offset Zone Kiln, build in Kampala, we are doing exactly that.