On December 6, 2024, Regulation 2024/3012 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, establishing a Union certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon storage in products.
The existence of the CRCF Regulation was one of the key reasons we decided to launch heliCO₂farm in 2025: for the first time, the European Union established a clear and demanding framework to certify high-quality carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon storage in products, creating the regulatory context that guides our strategy today.
A European framework we anticipated before our birth
When Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 was published in December 2024, we saw that the CRCF offered a common language so that $\text{CO}_2$ removal solutions could enter more transparent and credible carbon markets. In light of this framework, we incorporated heliCO₂farm in July 2025 with the conviction that nature-inspired atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ capture, supported by deep digital technologies, had to be aligned from the outset with these European standards of quality, traceability, and sustainability.
Which activities are recognized by the CRCF and how we position ourselves
The Regulation distinguishes three major types of activities: permanent carbon removals, carbon farming, and carbon storage in durable products. From our earliest designs, we have oriented heliCO₂farm primarily toward permanent removals through dual atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ capture systems that aim to store carbon for centuries, while never losing sight of the potential of carbon farming and the use of biogenic materials in long-lived products within a circular bioeconomy.
Quality criteria marking our path
The CRCF’s quality criteria—robust quantification, additionality, long-term storage, and environmental sustainability—have been from the very beginning a “benchmark” that we intend to meet and exceed. The Regulation requires the net benefit of each activity to be calculated against a transparent baseline and for all direct and indirect life-cycle emissions to be deducted. This requirement has deeply influenced how we conceive our dual capture systems so that every tonne of $\text{CO}_2$ removed can be rigorously demonstrated.
Certification methodologies and technical dialogue
The CRCF foresees that the Commission will gradually develop specific methodologies for technologies such as DACCS, BECCS, biochar, and various carbon farming practices, supported by an Expert Group on carbon removals. For us, these methodologies are the technical roadmap: they define what data we must measure, what monitoring periods are required, how to manage carbon reversal risks, and what minimum sustainability requirements we must integrate from the design phase of our solutions.
Carbon farming and nature-based projects: part of the ecosystem
Although heliCO₂farm was born as a technological atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ capture initiative, we are well aware that the CRCF also boosts carbon farming practices such as peatland restoration, agroforestry, sustainable forest management, or cover crops. The Regulation recognizes that if these practices go beyond business-as-usual and generate clear benefits for biodiversity and soil health, they can access a market premium. This reinforces our vision that the solution lies in combining technological innovation with nature-based projects.
The European registry and CRCF units: the “currency” of carbon removal
The CRCF introduces specific units—permanent carbon removals, carbon farming sequestration, soil emissions reduction, and carbon storage in products—and provides for a European registry to ensure transparency and prevent double counting. For a company founded in 2025 like heliCO₂farm, this framework allows us to design solutions keeping in mind how they will integrate into that “common currency” of carbon removal, ensuring that each project translates clearly into verifiable and audited units.
Reversal risk management and sustainability
From the start, we have considered the reversal risk of stored carbon as a critical aspect, and the CRCF addresses it explicitly by requiring preventive measures, appropriate monitoring periods, and liability mechanisms such as collective buffers or insurance. The Regulation also establishes minimum sustainability requirements, preventing practices harmful to biodiversity—such as certain forest monocultures—and promoting co-benefits for ecosystems, water, soils, and the circular economy. This perfectly fits the responsible design philosophy we want to consolidate across all our developments.
A strategic opportunity for Spain
From our perspective, the CRCF represents a great opportunity for Spain: the country possesses exceptional solar, agricultural, and forestry resources, as well as a scientific and technological community capable of leading carbon removal solutions at a European scale. By mobilizing investments, supportive policies, and public-private partnerships, Spain can place itself at the forefront of $\text{CO}_2$ capture, carbon farming, and the bioeconomy, turning regions like Aragon into key hubs for innovation and the deployment of CRCF projects.
How Spain can leverage the CRCF and the role of heliCO₂farm
The CRCF framework allows Spanish $\text{CO}_2$ capture and sustainable land management projects to generate certified units that are comparable across the EU, attracting private financing and reinforcing the country’s contribution to European climate targets. At heliCO₂farm, founded precisely to seize and contribute to this new context, we work to ensure that Spain advances toward technological sovereignty in atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ capture, and that the projects born here become a European reference for climate quality, innovation, and respect for nature.
