About us

We agree that wood should be used for its highest and best use whenever possible. In regions where forests grow the right species near sawmills, biomass energy plants, or manufacturing facilities, wood can be highly valuable for these industries. However, for most forests in the U.S. and globally, the nearest wood processing facility is too far away to be a viable option.

Wood is bulky and relatively low in value per unit of weight, making long-distance transport cost-prohibitive. This leaves forest managers and landowners in remote areas—or regions where traditional log markets have declined—with few viable management options. In these cases, Wood Vaults provide a valuable management tool to generate revenue from material that would otherwise have no financial value while also ensuring durable carbon removal and supporting forest restoration.

We are optimistic about the future of the circular bioeconomy—including mass timber, bioplastics, and bioenergy—but currently, only a small fraction of forests are close enough to these next-generation facilities for them to be a practical solution. Until these markets expand, Wood Vaults offer an immediate, scalable way to manage excess biomass while maximizing climate benefits.

Globally, WHS can achieve a sustainable potential rate of 1-10 GtCO2 per year. A 1 GtCO2/yr rate can be achieved by utilizing wood residuals alone from fire thinning, forestry residues, storm and insect damage, and urban wood trimming. The rate can also be achieved by harvesting wood at a moderate harvesting intensity of 5 tonne biomass per hectare each year, over a forest area of 1 million square kilometers (100 million hectares), 1/10 of the area of the US. To achieve the higher value of 10 GtCO2/y, forests need to be managed this way on a quarter of the world’s forested land, or on smaller area with higher harvest intensity and fast growing tree species. Thus, while the high value of 10 Gt depends on the society’s sense of climate emergency, the lower 1 Gt potential can be implemented immediately with many co-benefits.

Wood Vaults achieve carbon removal durability of 1,000 years or more by ensuring the right anaerobic conditions. When buried under a sufficiently thick layer of clay-rich soil or submerged in stagnant, oxygen-deprived water, wood resists decomposition—just as seen in archaeological discoveries of well-preserved ancient logs, wooden structures, and even ‘bog bodies.’

This durability is due to the natural composition of wood. Cellulose fibers are interlinked by hemicellulose and encased in lignin—a highly decay-resistant polymer. Most decomposers cannot break down lignin, except for specialized fungi (like white rot) and termites, both of which require oxygen. Even in open air, wood decomposes slowly—an evolutionary advantage that allows trees to grow tall and compete for sunlight.

By replicating these naturally occurring anaerobic conditions, Wood Vaults lock away carbon for millennia, offering one of the most scalable durable carbon removal solutions available today.

No—methanogenic bacteria do not thrive on wood.

1.Wood is highly resistant to anaerobic decomposition. Methane-producing bacteria cannot break down lignocellulose—the primary component of wood—because lignin is a complex polymer that resists microbial digestion.

2.Any minimal methane produced is naturally mitigated. A small fraction of woody biomass contains carbohydrates that could theoretically generate methane. However, in a properly engineered Wood Vault, any methane that forms is consumed by methanotrophic bacteria in the biologically active soil layer above the burial chamber.

Concerns about methane production often stem from landfills, where food waste and other easily degradable organic material fuel methane emissions. In contrast, Wood Vaults contain only clean, coarse woody biomass, ensuring that methane generation is negligible. To verify this, methane monitoring is a key part of our MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) system.

By following rigorous engineering and monitoring protocols, we ensure that Wood Vaults provide durable carbon storage without contributing to methane emissions.

While Wood Vaults require land space and accumulate over time, their footprint is remarkably small relative to the amount of carbon stored. A single hectare (2.47 acres) of Wood Vault can store 100,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent in wood, which is 250 times the standing biomass of a typical forest of the same size.

Additionally, because wood is buried deep underground, the land above remains available for natural vegetation regeneration, grazing, crops, parks, or even solar farms. This means Wood Vaults are compatible with a variety of of other land uses, making them a highly efficient and scalable carbon removal solution.