Every winter, northern India braces for a predictable yet devastating crisis. As harvest season ends, millions of tonnes of crop residues are set ablaze in open fields. Within days, Delhi, Kanpur, and other cities are blanketed in a toxic haze. The air becomes unbreathable, schools are forced to close, flights are grounded, and hospital admissions surge.

The problem’s scale is massive. According to a study published in Nature Communications:

• India generates ~500 million metric tonnes (MT) of crop residue annually, of which 100 MT is burned
• Researchers estimate between 44,000 and 98,000 premature deaths annually are linked directly to this practice.

And yet, despite being illegal, crop burning continues. Because for farmers, it remains the cheapest and fastest way to clear fields.

At MASH Makes, we don’t see crop residues as a waste problem. They are a resource waiting to be unlocked.  As Srikanth Vishwanath, our Product Owner for Biochar and Carbon Removal, explains:

“In India, there have been lots of cases of smog in the bigger cities, and it’s just getting worse because of crop burning, which is a standard practice. It’s illegal, but it still happens. So, what we need to do, and what we are working on, is finding better uses for this biomass resource.”

Turning pollution into value through pyrolysis

The alternative to open burning is pyrolysis, a controlled process that heats biomass in the absence of oxygen. Instead of choking smoke, our pyrolysis-driven machines produces two valuable outputs:

• Biochar: a stable, carbon-rich material that locks carbon in the soil for centuries while improving soil fertility.
• Biofuel: a renewable fuel that can directly replace fossil oils in shipping and heavy industry.

“Instead of it getting burnt, it’s much better for us to use that biomass in pyrolysis to create biochar and biofuel. That’s where the beauty of pyrolysis is—where we take something that would naturally degrade, release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere, and instead stabilise it in a controlled manner,” explains Srikanth.

This is the essence of circular climate action: taking a liability that damages health and accelerates global warming, and turning it into an asset that improves agriculture, generates clean energy, and removes carbon.

Why does crop burning persist?

If pyrolysis is such a clear alternative, why does burning persist? From our work on the ground, three main barriers stand out:

1. Economics for farmers: For farmers, burning is free. Collecting, transporting, or treating residues requires time and money. Unless alternatives are easier, cheaper, or more rewarding, the incentives don’t add up.
2. Trust in carbon markets: Biochar produces measurable, verifiable carbon removal credits. But trust in voluntary carbon markets is fragile. At MASH Makes, our biochar credits are backed by independent standards such as the European Biochar Certificate (EBC) and the Global Biochar C-Sink Registry, ensuring scientific rigour and traceability. Beyond certification, we also partner with organisations like Carbonfuture, which provides monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for carbon removal projects and ensures that every tonne of CO₂ removed is tracked and permanent.
3. Awareness and education: Biochar remains poorly understood outside specialist circles. Farmers often don’t know what it is. Policymakers often confuse it with simple biomass burning. At MASH Makes, we work on building confidence in a whole system by educating farmers, advocating to policy makers, and working with partner organisations to sell verified carbon removal credits to companies looking to offset their emissions.

The ripple effect of biochar

What excites us about biochar is the multiplier effect it creates.

• For farmers: soils enriched with biochar retain water and nutrients better, boosting yields and reducing fertiliser needs. Our trials in India have shown yield increases of up to 110% in drought-affected soybeans. Moreover, a single application has shown to improve soil yields for at least six seasons.
• For the climate: biochar permanently sequesters carbon, making it one of the most scalable, immediate tools in carbon dioxide removal (CDR).
• For communities: processing crop residues into biochar and bio-oil creates local jobs in collection, transport, and application

From pilot to scale

At MASH Makes, we’ve already shown what’s possible. Our modular pyrolysis units fit into standard shipping containers and can be deployed near biomass sources. This reduces costly transport and ensures flexibility as supply shifts.

Some milestones so far:

• Nearly 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent removed through our biochar projects, already verified through third-party standards.
• Engine tests proving that our bio-oil matches the shipping industry’s strict ISO 8217 standard.
• Partnerships with global players like Norden for vessel trials, and MRV providers like Carbonfuture.

The questions we must ask

We believe biochar is ready for prime time. But scaling it requires collective action. So, here are some questions we have for you, our community of sustainability professionals, innovators, policymakers, and climate leaders:

• What do you see as the biggest barrier to scaling biochar as an alternative to crop burning?
• Should governments do more to incentivize pyrolysis over burning—or can markets move fast enough on their own?