BP Invests in US Forest Carbon Company

BP Ventures has invested $5 million in Finite Resources, the parent of Finite Carbon, a US-based forest carbon management company.

Founded in 2009, Finite Carbon has since become the largest developer of forest carbon offsets in North America with more than 40 forest projects covering nearly three million acres.

“With BP’s investment in Finite Resources, we plan to significantly scale the use of voluntary offsets as a mechanism to incentivize forest stewardship,” said Sean Carney, Finite Carbon’s CEO. “With the help of those businesses committed to supporting good forest management, we expect to deliver more than $100 million directly to landowners in the next five years.”

BP Ventures managing director Nacho Gimenez said the company has purchased many of Finite Carbon’s offsets for regulatory compliance for a number of years.

In separate news, BP is planning to invest $25 million to construct a pilot plant in the US to test its enhanced PET recycling technology, BP Infinia.

The UK energy and chemicals giant has developed the depolymerization technology to turn difficult-to-recycle PET plastic waste, such as black food trays and colored bottles, into recycled feedstocks that can be interchanged with those made from traditional hydrocarbon sources.

“We see our Infinia technology as a game-changer for the recycling of PET plastics. It is an important stepping stone in enabling a stronger circular economy in the polyester industry and helping to reduce unmanaged plastic waste,” said BP's downstream chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic.

The plant is planned to be located at BP’s R&D hub in Naperville, USA, and is expected to be operational in late 2020.

BP said it sees potential to develop multiple full-scale commercial plants based on its Infinia technology worldwide. If deployed at scale in several facilities, the group estimates that the technology could potentially prevent billions of PET bottles and trays from ending up in landfill or incinerators every year.