Biochar seems to be the new hype, and this week we want to see what sits beneath the story.
Yes: the science is real. But the industrial applications - while not fictional - are still infinitesimally small. So the better question isn’t “is biochar good?” It is: “Did its advertised benefits get blown out of proportion, and for whom?”
For big tech it seems.
They needed a product that could convert money into carbon offsets quickly and credibly, and biochar fit the brief. This is what we call “a market being built backwards“, from corporate demand for credits to industrial supply. Read our read of the current biochar market here.
The crazy thing is - if you go on AI chat (OpenAI or Claude are the ones we tested) and ask about biochar, AI will always just tell you the great things about it. It takes human judgment to dig deeper and see the nuances.
I read this article from a famous developer/blogger in China. He wrote, “Now that execution is handled by AI, the scarcity lies in the depth of your understanding of the problem.” He used the metaphor: AI is the lever, and the human is the fulcrum. This means - when the lever is incredibly long (very high execution power), moving the fulcrum just a tiny bit (a small judgment or decision) results in a massive change at the other end.
This is precisely what we believe in tools.
Our Tocco AI will not replace your job - it will only be the lever for it. The 10% most critical part is still on your plate: you make the call on what to do, for your own products and business. Tocco AI is still in beta, but we move fast.
Stay sharp - and keep building.
Anh
On behalf of the Tocco team
Further Readings⋅ Material Intelligence & More ⋅ 01.2026
(Europe 🇪🇺) - The EU’s climate advisors want more reporting - just as Europe rolls it back (CSRD)
The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change says sustainability reporting is the infrastructure for climate risk management and financial supervision. Meanwhile, the EU just exempted 90% of companies from doing exactly that.
(Japan 🇯🇵) - Toyota’s new Circular Factory
Toyota is opening a 25,000 m² Circular Factory in Wałbrzych, Poland, designed to process 20,000 end-of-life vehicles per year. The cars don’t have to be Toyotas - the goal is to recover and loop valuable materials (batteries, wheels, copper, steel, aluminium, plastics) back into production. Read our report on Automotive & EV Design 2030 for trends in this space.
(Global 🌏) - ISO publishes two new Chain of Custody standards (22095-2 & 22095-3)
ISO has finalized 22095-2 on Mass Balance and 22095-3 on Book and Claim - a major milestone for robust tracking and reporting through complex value chains. They lay the foundations for cross-recognition across market-based / contractual approaches to corporate GHG accounting.
(Europe 🇪🇺 & USA 🇺🇸) - Wind is “stupid” until it powers industry
At Davos last month, Trump called windmills “losers” and said nations that buy them are “stupid people.” Five days later, nine European countries signed a deal to build a vast offshore wind power hub in the North Sea. The wind still rises, whether you call it stupid or not.
(UK 🇬🇧) – UK PFAS plan
The UK has unveiled a national plan to tackle PFAS, increasing environmental testing and signalling closer alignment with EU-level restrictions. You can see which PFAS ban applies to your products here.
(USA 🇺🇸) - California’s August deadline for emissions reporting
Two new California laws are now in effect. SB 253 applies to companies with $1B+ in revenue: Scope 1 & 2 reporting is due August 10, and Scope 3 kicks in from 2027. SB 261 applies to companies with $500M+ in revenue and focuses on climate-related financial risk - it’s paused in court for now, but getting ready early still makes sense. We covered this on Tocco MatterRadar.