Carba Inc. innovation
MnCIFA loan for $500,000 with 5-year term. To reduce landfill emissions, this loan financed the first Carba pyrolysis reactor that converts woody biomass from a compost facility in Burnsville into biocarbon (charcoal), which is then used as landfill cover and subsequently buried to ensure long-term carbon sequestration.
Reducing landfill C02 emissions
Carba is an early-stage startup using innovative, autothermal design in its pyrolysis reactor:
- Unique reactor design is portable, scalable and far more energy efficient than alternatives.
- Total cost for the first reactor: $2.49 million.
- MnCIFA's $500,000 loan is serving as a catalyst to draw in additional private investors and loans.
- In December 2025, Carba announced it had raised $6M in an investment round. More info.
Other project partners:
- Waste Management of Minnesota: Providing woody biomass from Burnsville compost site.
- Burnsville Sanitary Landfill: Using Carba's biocarbon for daily landfill cover, which is subsequently buried to ensure long-term sequestration.
- Microsoft: Carba signed a 5-year agreement with Microsoft for 44,000 tons of carbon off-take.
About Carba, Inc.
Cofounders: University of Minnesota Chemical Engineering and Material Science Professor Paul Dauenhauer, PhD, and his former student, Andrew J. Jones, PhD, US-Berkeley.
Dr. Jones is Carba's CEO, Dr. Dauenhauer is Carba's senior advisor.
Additional project funding: $7M DOE grant, $1.9M Program-Related Investment (PRI) by Schmidt Family Foundation and other foundations.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a $500k Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) agreement with Carba to plan a project with their Tribal community.