Living Carbon is a public benefit company that turns degraded American land, former coal mines and abandoned farmland in particular, into working forests that sequester carbon and produce sustainable timber. Founded in 2019 by Maddie Hall (CEO) and Patrick Mellor (CTO), the company is based in Charleston, SC and runs reforestation projects across Appalachia and the Southeast, using satellite imagery and historical climate data to identify sites and select native species to replant.
This launch marks the largest institutional commitment to the company so far. Octopus Energy Generation is putting $500 million into US afforestation and reforestation projects led by Living Carbon, and has invested an additional $13 million directly in the company . The capital will fund projects targeting up to 50 million tonnes of CO₂ removal over 40 years, roughly equivalent to New York City's annual greenhouse gas emissions . The deal lands as hyperscalers race to meet climate commitments tied to AI infrastructure buildouts, and Living Carbon already supplies credits to several of them.
Google, Meta, and McKinsey, all part of the Symbiosis Coalition, have agreed to purchase 131,240 tonnes of carbon removal over 10 years from Living Carbon's Appalachian reforestation projects , alongside an existing 1.4 million tonne agreement with Microsoft. For founders and operators tracking nature-based carbon removal, this is one of the clearest signals yet that degraded land restoration has matured into a fundable, contracted asset class with real corporate offtake behind it.
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Nadia V.Apr 30, 2026
Trees as carbon removal is the original web1 climate play. Glad someone is finally treating dirt as infrastructure.
T
Tomás CardosoApr 30, 2026
The drone shots over the degraded land into the seedling closeup did a lot of heavy lifting here. Whoever cut that reel earned their paycheck.
B
Benji LinApr 30, 2026
Surely there's a token for the trees. One tree, one coin, verifiable on chain, I've already drafted the litepaper in my head.
P
Priyanka ReddyApr 30, 2026
Reforestation is great but I want to see survival rates after year three before I get excited about NYC-equivalent math.
K
Kwame O.Apr 30, 2026
Building in adjacent biochar territory and genuinely rooting for these folks. Physical climate work is brutal and most people underestimate the logistics.
Y
yuliaorlovApr 30, 2026
Tweet copy is solid but burying the partner name behind 'Octopus Energy Generation' in the second sentence is a choice. That's your hook, lead with it.
D
Dmitri K.Apr 30, 2026
Every time I see a forestry startup announce a big check I think about how many acres actually get planted vs sit in a slide deck. Hoping these are the good ones.
A
Amara OkaforApr 30, 2026
Anyone know if they're hiring field ops folks? Have a candidate from a Pacific Northwest restoration nonprofit who would eat this role alive.
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Living Carbon is a public benefit company that turns degraded American land, former coal mines and abandoned farmland in particular, into working forests that sequester carbon and produce sustainable timber. Founded in 2019 by Maddie Hall (CEO) and Patrick Mellor (CTO), the company is based in Charleston, SC and runs reforestation projects across Appalachia and the Southeast, using satellite imagery and historical climate data to identify sites and select native species to replant. This launch marks the largest institutional commitment to the company so far. Octopus Energy Generation is putting $500 million into US afforestation and reforestation projects led by Living Carbon, and has invested an additional $13 million directly in the company . The capital will fund projects targeting up to 50 million tonnes of CO₂ removal over 40 years, roughly equivalent to New York City's annual greenhouse gas emissions . The deal lands as hyperscalers race to meet climate commitments tied to AI infrastructure buildouts, and Living Carbon already supplies credits to several of them. Google, Meta, and McKinsey, all part of the Symbiosis Coalition, have agreed to purchase 131,240 tonnes of carbon removal over 10 years from Living Carbon's Appalachian reforestation projects , alongside an existing 1.4 million tonne agreement with Microsoft. For founders and operators tracking nature-based carbon removal, this is one of the clearest signals yet that degraded land restoration has matured into a fundable, contracted asset class with real corporate offtake behind it.
Comments (8)
Trees as carbon removal is the original web1 climate play. Glad someone is finally treating dirt as infrastructure.
The drone shots over the degraded land into the seedling closeup did a lot of heavy lifting here. Whoever cut that reel earned their paycheck.
Surely there's a token for the trees. One tree, one coin, verifiable on chain, I've already drafted the litepaper in my head.
Reforestation is great but I want to see survival rates after year three before I get excited about NYC-equivalent math.
Building in adjacent biochar territory and genuinely rooting for these folks. Physical climate work is brutal and most people underestimate the logistics.
Tweet copy is solid but burying the partner name behind 'Octopus Energy Generation' in the second sentence is a choice. That's your hook, lead with it.
Every time I see a forestry startup announce a big check I think about how many acres actually get planted vs sit in a slide deck. Hoping these are the good ones.
Anyone know if they're hiring field ops folks? Have a candidate from a Pacific Northwest restoration nonprofit who would eat this role alive.