The startup Agrorobótica, from São Carlos, a partner of Embrapa Instrumentação, expects that the marketing of carbon credits from its analyzes of agricultural soil will start in March 2021.
In June, the company opened a laboratory and, since then, has analyzed 250 samples a day, half of its total capacity.
“With the use of laser technology that measures the presence of CO2 in leaves and soil, we were able, at first, to accurately measure the stored carbon on a large scale and, in a second moment, we will negotiate, together with the farmer, the carbon credits in the market”, explains Fábio Angelis, founding partner and CEO of Agrorobótica.
According to him, the companies that have shown interest in negotiating these credits in Brazil are global giants and also large Brazilian companies in the chemical, infrastructure and oil sectors. “These are companies that have a high emission profile and are looking for opportunities to offset,” he says.
The analyzes carried out by Agrorobótica, using artificial intelligence, validate the sequestration of agricultural areas with complete sample reports in less than a day, while other techniques take more than 15 days to be ready.
Currently, 1 ton of CO2 is equivalent to 1 carbon credit, traded abroad at prices ranging from 4 to 7 euros.
In 2018, Agrorobótica received an investment from the Brazilian Industrial Research and Innovation Company (Embrapii) and, in 2019, from the investment company NT@gro — which bought a 20% stake in the business. The value of the contributions was not disclosed.
