Biochar carbon removal

Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) is a negative emissions technology. It involves the production of biochar through pyrolysis of residual biomass and the subsequent application of the biochar in soils or durable materials (e.g. cement, tar). The carbon dioxide sequestered by the plants used for the biochar production is therewith stored for several hundreds of years, which creates carbon sinks.

Definition
A man working biochar into soil in a greenhouse
Biochar applied to the soil in research trials in Namibia

The term Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) was first introduced by the European Biochar Industry Consortium (EBI)[1] and has since been adopted by various institutions and experts. The term refers to the practice of producing biochar from sustainably sourced biomass and ensuring that it is stored for a long period of time. This ensures long-term storage oof the carbon previously sequestered in the biomass. Beyond carbon sequestration, biochar application has various other potential benefits, such as increased yield and root biomass, water use efficiency and microbial activity.[2]

Biochar Carbon Removal is broadly considered the most feasible and cost efficient negative emissions technology.[3] It thus falls into the category of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies. This is amongst other reflected in the guidance documents of the Science Based Targets Initiative.[4][5]

Carbon Dioxide Storage

The level to which carbon dioxide is fixed and stored, depends both on the biochar production process and the subsequent application. If produced under certain conditions, 97% of the total organic carbon in biochar is highly refractory carbon, i.e. carbon that has near infinite stability. This implies that biochar can have a very high permanence in terms of carbon dioxide storage.[6]

There are several applications that are considered to store CO2 for long periods of time:

  • Soil application
  • Additive for construction material
  • Additive in asphalts
  • Additive in plastics, paper and textiles

Market

Trade in BCR credits is still limited to a small number of suppliers and credit offtakers. In 2022, out of 592,969 Carbon Dioxide Removal credits purchased on the Voluntary Carbon Market, 40% were based Biochar Carbon Removal projects.[7]

See also

References
  1. "European Biochar Industry Consortium on LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  2. Schmidt, Hans‐Peter; Kammann, Claudia; Hagemann, Nikolas; Leifeld, Jens; Bucheli, Thomas D.; Sánchez Monedero, Miguel Angel; Cayuela, Maria Luz (November 2021). "Biochar in agriculture – A systematic review of 26 global meta‐analyses". GCB Bioenergy. 13 (11): 1708–1730. doi:10.1111/gcbb.12889. ISSN 1757-1693.
  3. Medium.com (2023-03-31). "How biochar emerged as an unexpected champion in the fight against the climate crisis". CEEZER. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  4. "Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Guidence". Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  5. Luckhurst, Karen; Luckhurst, Karen (2022-10-05). "Biochar: the 'black gold' for soils that is getting big bets on offset markets". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. Petersen, H. I.; Lassen, L.; Rudra, A.; Nguyen, L. X.; Do, P. T. M.; Sanei, H. (2023-04-04). "Carbon stability and morphotype composition of biochars from feedstocks in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam". International Journal of Coal Geology: 104233. doi:10.1016/j.coal.2023.104233. ISSN 0166-5162.
  7. CDR.fyi (2023-01-04). "CDR.fyi 2022 Year in Review". CDR-fyi. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
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