Achievements 2007 - 2025
2007 Rainbow Bee Eater formed to enable physical carbon drawdown at large distributed scale with triple bottom line benefits.
2008 - 2013 world wide search and testing seeking viable biochar & clean syngas technologies.
2014 RBE designs, builds and tests prototype ‘ECHO2 Mk1’ on Ian Stanley’s farm in Western Australia.
2017 Completed prototype testing at Kalannie.
2018 - 2022 Testing Mk2 and Mk3 ECHO2 modules at Holla-Fresh. ECHO2 syngas replaces LPG glasshouse heating.
2020 ECHO2 featured at Bois Energie 2020 Nantes. France. Invited to join the European Biochar Industry Consortium.
2020 ECHO2 became the first biochar carbon removals supplier outside Europe certified by Puro.earth. ECHO2 CO2 Reduction Certificates (CORCs) purchased by Shopify, Microsoft and others.
2021 - 2025 Field trials of ECHO2 biochar and wood vinegar confirm benefits with several crops and soil types.
2021 RBE and ITP Thermal awarded Australian Government grant that confirms feasibility of low cost commercial scale hydrogen production using modified ECHO2 process with straw.
2021 RBE signs world first multi year forward contract for CORCs.
2022 Second tranche of CORCs delivered to Microsoft and Shopify
2022 Katunga Fresh Stage 1 confirmed with support from a Commonwealth Bank Green Loan. Stage 1 comprises 6 ECHO2 modules providing heat for Pete and Marian Van Den Goor’s 21 HA glasshouse using local straw and biochar and wood vinegar for regional farms.
2023 Mark IV ECHO2 Reactor redesigned metallurgy, mechanicals and process controls for 100,000 hour design life.
2023 Forward off-take contract and first delivery of CORCs to Watershed.
2023 Katunga Fresh Stage 1 under construction. Katunga Fresh automated straw delivery system commissioned October.
2023 RBE hired CEO Michael Grant. RBE moved into new HQ and ECHO2 Parts Warehouse at Laverton North in December.
2024 Strategic agreement signed with Optimal Group Australia as RBE’s exclusive sales and distribution partner for Australia and New Zealand.
2024 ECHO2 Mark IV module manufactured, assembled, installed and commissioned at Holla-Fresh.
2024 Small commercial scale liquids mixing plant commissioned to enable production of Pyrosol wood vinegar formulations.
2025 6 x ECHO2 Mark IV modules and associated syngas system installed at Katunga Fresh for mid year commissioning.
2025 Strategic agreement signed with Able Industries Engineering as RBE’s exclusive partner for the manufacture and assembly of ECHO2 modules.