Membership
Terms & Conditions

Who should become a member? 

Biochar Europe assembles and represents the active and aspiring actors of the European biochar & Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) sector. We involve the collaboration of companies from various industries, research institutes, and non-profits to drive defossilisation, sustainable carbon cycles, climate mitigation and adaptation through biochar policy, standards, research, market intelligence, and knowledge transfer. You should join us as a member if you want to support and actively contribute to our work in the sector with your time, expertise, and money. Examples of members include, but are not limited to:

• Biochar producers
• Biochar traders
• Biochar users
• Technology providers
• Application developers
• Project developers
• Consultants & service providers
• Research & development and Academia
• Non-profits, including associations and municipality services
• Investors

Check out our members directory.

You are eligible for membership if you fulfill the following criteria:

• Juridical entity: You are a registered organization such as a corporation, public institute or non-governmental association. We do not offer membership for individuals. 
• Sector: You are active or interested in the biochar sector.
• Location: We represent the European Biochar sector, and most of our members are located in Europe. We do accept members from outside of Europe on a case-by-case basis.
• Governance: You have read and accept our Association’s statues.
• Ethics and principles: You have read and accept our membership terms and conditions, including our ethics declaration. 
• Data policy: You have read and accept our privacy policy.
• Membership fee: You pay the membership fee upon successful admission. 

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What benefits and opportunities come with your membership?

What you get

Visibility and promotion 

• We will announce you as a new member with your logo and website link in our internal members’ newsletter.
• We will add your logo and details to our member directory to help potential partners, clients, and other interested people find you.
• We will add your logo to our printed and online marketing materials and reports, which includes exhibition booths, presentations, and our annual market report. 

Knowledge sharing 

• We organize regular online events with experts on relevant topics for our members.
• You receive member discounts for our in-person events, notably the European Biochar Summit.
• You receive member offers and relevant sector and activity updates in our regular internal members’ newsletter.
• We summarize and highlight relevant EU policy updates and opportunities for engagement through our monthly policy brief.
• We produce an annual market report.
• You receive exclusive access to our online members’ area, including recordings of previous online events, internal papers and reports, guidance on certifications and regulations, members’ newsletter archive, logo files for use on your website or marketing materials, contents and graphics about biochar and related topics for re-use on your website or in your marketing materials, etc.

Laboratory and certification discounts:

• Discount from Eurofins on biochar analysis
• Discount from COALSTER GmbH on REACH registration services (10%)
• Discount for EBC certification services and fees

What you support

Advocacy for biochar:

• We work to alleviate and eliminate market entry barriers for all actors in the biochar sector through constructive political advocacy at the EU level. 
• We intervene in support of scientifically backed standards and regulations that make sense for the biochar industry.
• We enhance awareness and understanding of biochar’s benefits and barriers to promote sector growth, communicating to and with key stakeholders and decision-makers to find paths forward. 

Network and collaboration: 

• Support, contribute to and benefit from our network of sector experts – we connect and collaborate with relevant biochar actors and initiatives including research institutes, universities, EU bodies, projects and legislation.
• Support and be part of our achievements and activities – we are the driving force of the European biochar sector.
• Join our working groups and contribute directly to the prioritization and development of research, position papers, standards, and policy.

For more information, see our work.

Membership does not entitle you to consultancy services on your biochar operations, but we are happy to connect you with relevant experts where possible and share our expertise within our capacity. 

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• As an association registered in Germany, membership fees according to our statutory purpose are not subject to VAT.
• We charge the annual membership fee per calendar year. If you join after 30 June, we charge a half-year fee of 60% in the first year.
• In recognition of the investment made by our early members, we charge a one-time admission fee to new members in the C1 – C6 revenue class. 
• Your revenue class is based on your business value creation in biochar-related business activities including related products and services like heat, electricity, CDR crediting, or biochar purchase volume.
• You may qualify for the Startup, Biochar Entrant or Small Business category as follows: 

1. Startups in seed-phase who exist for less than 5 years and have less than 1 M€ revenue.
2. Companies that are not active yet in Biochar but with plans or interest to become active.
3. Consultancy and service companies with less than 2 Full Time Equivalents on Biochar; or operation of a small pyrolysis unit with less than 500 t production capacity.

Fee classification

• Members self-declare their category when they join based on their previous year revenue. 
• We ask you to confirm your category, or changes to it, at the beginning of the calendar year. 
• We will keep your corporate classification C6 - C1 confidential.

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Member’s rights and obligations

• You provide us with accurate information about your revenue class, contact and company data, and update us on changes, so we can contact you reliably, inform you of member offers and benefits, present you correctly on our website, in presentations and other content, and charge you the appropriate fee. 
• You are entitled and encouraged to fully participate in and benefit from your membership. 
• Members have a voting right in our Annual General Meeting. Each member organization is to one (1) vote, with the exception of Informational Members who do not hold a voting right. 
• If you fail to pay within 30 days of receipt of the fee request and have not informed us of any issues, we reserve the right to take away any of your membership access and benefits.

Membership renewal and termination 

• Your membership automatically renews each calendar year without notice.
• You can terminate your membership in writing with 3 months’ notice to the end of the year. In other words, if you inform us by 30 September at the latest, your membership ends on 31 December of that year. 

For more information, see our organization’s statutes.

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Ready to join?

• Submit your application for membership through our online application form.
• If you are eligible for membership, our Association’s Board of Directors will consider and approve your application with a majority vote. We may ask you for additional information or clarification prior to their decision. The Board holds the right not to approve a membership application without further explanation. 
• We will inform you about the Board’s decision. If successful, you will receive a welcome email with all relevant information and next steps to start your membership. 

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