Pilot biochar program ends its run at ReGen Monterey as company moves forward with commercial facility.

It’s been two years since Sitos Group launched its pilot biochar facility at ReGen Monterey in Marina, intending to prove a concept that transforms organic materials into a usable soil product while preventing carbon from entering the atmosphere.

In July, the pilot project wrapped up with positive results, according to the Soledad-based company: It proved its concept and led to a full-scale commercial facility expected to break ground soon in Delano.

“This pilot was about more than proving technology—it was about proving a system,” said Mayo Ryan, CEO of Sitos Group. “From production and post-processing to compost blending and soil application, we built an end-to-end model that’s now ready to scale.”

Sitos Group, working with Catalyst Environmental Solutions, was also recently able to secure an air permit for its biochar system with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District, an accomplishment the company said sets a precedent for future carbon-negative projects. 

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that results from a slow pyrolysis process that can be used to improve soil health.

Sitos Group’s first commercial biochar facility, to be built at Treehouse California Almonds in Delano, is a $9 million, 25,000-square-foot facility that is expected to go online by the end of 2025. It will process 6,000 pounds of almond shell feedstock per hour, and is expected to remove nearly 20,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually.

An expanded project in Monterey is planned to go online by early 2027, according to Sitos Group.