Introducing CDR.fyi New Data Model

Powering Trust & Transparency in Carbon Removal

At CDR.fyi, our mission is to accelerate durable carbon removal. We aim to do that by making the fledgling durable CDR market radically transparent, trustworthy, and easy to navigate. We believe that when all stakeholders can view the same facts from a trusted and impartial third party, it will expedite capital commitment, the scaling of technology, and ultimately drive the market growth to meet the required levels for net zero.

A Brief History of the CDR.fyi’s Data Model

When we first started tracking durable CDR orders in 2022, the industry had only a few dozen public purchases. A lightweight schema, comprising buyers, suppliers, and methods, was sufficient to map the landscape. But durable CDR has grown from experimental contracts to a fledgling commodity market. Purchase volumes are in the millions of tonnes, financings top a billion dollars, and an ecosystem of registries, MRV providers, brokers, and marketplaces now stands between capture and credit retirement. That complexity required a more sophisticated, comprehensive data model.

What’s New in v2.0

Over the past six months, we rebuilt our schema from the ground up, optimizing for data integrity, defined by accuracy, consistency and completeness. We launched the new data model in April, and early feedback has been positive. Key upgrades in the new data model include:

Delivery vs. Retirement refined – explicit fields and linkages trace every tonne from contract signature to final retirement.
Clearer treatment of intermediaries – buying groups, marketplaces, brokers, and syndicates are all tagged, so volumes aren’t double-counted.
Registry & MRV separation – registries and measurement/verification firms receive their own classes, thereby avoiding confusion with other service providers.
Expanded order status – now covers placeholder (counterparties known, volume confidential) and void (e.g., supplier insolvency or termination).
Confidential yet verifiable – submitters can keep counterparties private while still sharing details with us for reconciliation purposes.
Dual dates – we now log both announcement and contract dates to provide more precise deal timing.
Granular source tracking – every data point carries provenance, from press release to registry entry.
Deal economics unbundled – total contract value and price per tonne sit in separate fields for cleaner analysis.
Comprehensive logging – every edit is auditable, and all retirements are explicitly linked back to their originating orders.

These changes may feel subtle, but they remove blind spots that can distort market signals, and they lay the groundwork for the next leap forward in the market and CDR.fyi’s coverage of it.

Where We’re Headed

Next on our roadmap:

Deeper intermediary mapping – brokerage tiers, syndicate splits, and fee structures.
Visibility on “other parties” – surfacing the MRV provider, insurer, and auditor attached to each order.
Ratings - integration of third-party ratings, where available.
Exchange-like market views – inching toward real-time quote boards, spreads, and ticker symbols for CDR tonnes.

Help Shape the Future

Data models are living organisms; they thrive on collective insight. If you have suggestions, corrections, or visionary ideas about how we can enhance the CDR.fyi data model, contact us at team@cdr.fyi - we’d love to build with you!

Together, we can transform carbon removal from a niche experiment into a vibrant, high-integrity market that safeguards our planet for generations to come. Let’s make history - one verified tonne at a time!