A season of learning

September 2026 Newsletter

September has a way of pulling everyone back into rhythm after the summer: back to projects, back to questions, back to deadlines, and back to figuring out what’s next. At IBI, we’re calling it Back to Biochar.

Whether you’re new to biochar or have been working in the field for years, there is always something new to learn. So this month, we’re taking the opportunity to share a new resource, revisit some of the tools and learning opportunities available through IBI, and invite you to tell us what you would like to learn about next.

So, let’s start with something new.

Earlier this month, IBI published the Guide to Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) for Biochar, developed to help biochar producers and project developers understand what dMRV tools actually do and what to look for when choosing one. 

As biochar carbon removal grows, so does the need to collect, track, report, and verify project data. And increasingly, digital tools are part of that process. The Guide looks at where those tools can help and where they can’t. Not every step can, or should, be automated, and people remain an important part of the process.

It also explores practical considerations such as data ownership, offline capabilities, sensors, APIs, integration with registries, and what happens to project data along the way.

Of course, going back to biochar isn’t only about what’s new. It’s also a good excuse to revisit some of the resources that are already there, or finally open that one you’ve been meaning to get to.

The Manual for Biochar Carbon Removal, a companion to our new dMRV Guide, helps producers and project developers navigate carbon certification standards and methodologies and identify the pathway that best fits their project.

The Global Biochar Market Report, based on responses from 930 people across 96 countries, offers a snapshot of where the biochar industry is today, from production and markets to demand, carbon markets, and the challenges that remain. One striking finding? 74% of commercial producers surveyed cited lack of buyer awareness as a barrier to selling or scaling.

For those closer to production, the Biochar Operator Course is an on-demand professional course built around the realities of running biochar systems, covering everything from pyrolysis science and feedstock management to safety, troubleshooting, maintenance, quality standards, and carbon credit calculations.

And if academia is more your thing, the Virtual Graduate Lecture Series gives you on-demand access to recorded lectures and presentation materials from researchers and experts across the global biochar academic community.

And if the dMRV Guide left you with questions, good. Reading about dMRV is one thing; understanding how it works in practice brings up a whole new set of questions.

On October 14, IBI will bring together dMRV providers and experts working across biochar and carbon removal to talk about what digital MRV actually looks like in practice.

We’ll get into what can and cannot be automated, how data moves through the MRV process, where things can get complicated, and what producers and project developers should be asking along the way.

But we don’t want to decide all the questions ourselves. What do you want to know about dMRV? Send us your questions in advance to info@biochar-international.org, and we’ll bring them to the panel.

And since we’re already asking questions, we have one more for you.

What do you want to learn about biochar?

We spend a lot of time thinking about what resources, webinars, and conversations would be most useful to the biochar community, but we’d rather hear it from you. What questions are you still trying to answer? What topics would you like us to explore next?

It could be biochar production, carbon removal, markets, policy, standards, applications, or something we haven’t covered yet.

Tell us what you want to learn.

We’re listening.

Warmly,

Valeria Araico
Senior Programs and Operations Manager