BIOCHAR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The amount of programs and research that focus on biochar have greatly expanded over the last 5 years. Both institutes of higher education as well as research institutions are developing programs and teaching positions in biochar with some becoming quite large and well funded. The information below highlights biochar programs in higher education and in research institutions, links to each are listed by country and are those that IBI is aware of at this time. If your program is not listed here, or if you have a correction or an update, please submit your information to Brian Schorr, IBI Executive Administrator.
New research and studies are constantly being published and IBI lists all peer-reviewed published work on our bibliography. Additionally, with the help of the IBI Advisory Committee, IBI has published an initial list of biochar research Needs and Priorities.
IBI Profiles on Research Institutions
- Biochar at Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ATB) in Potsdam, Germany
- CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, Australia
- New Zealand Biochar Research Center
- UK Biochar Research Centre
- Developing a Research Center in Ghana
- North Carolina Farm Center for Innovation and Sustainability
- Universidad de La Frontera in Temuco, Chile
Technical Notes for Researchers
Techical Notes are brief summaries on a specific subject written by IBI members
Biochar Characterization: NMR Explanation Paper by Catie Brewer, Iowa State University, November 2010
IBI Board Member Johannes Lehmann works with biochar researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratories to unravel the secrets of biochar. Photo courtesy of Johannes Lehmann
Biochar Programs in Higher Education
Click here for list of universities working in agriculture and forestry
EUROPE
AUSTRALIA
- Australian National University (ANU)
- James Cook University
- University of Adelaide
- University of New South Wales, School of Materials Science and Engineering
- University of Newcastle
- University of Sydney
- University of Western Australia
- University of Wollongong
BELGIUM
BRAZIL
CANADA
- Fleming College, Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment
- McGill University (Plant Science Dept.)
- Queens University
- University of Saskatchewan
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo
- University of Western Ontario
CHILE
CHINA
- China Agricultural University
- Zhejiang Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center (ZJBETRC)
- Zheijiang University
COLOMBIA
COSTA RICA
GERMANY
- Bingen University of Applied Sciences
- Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) Soil Biogeochemistry
- University of Bayreuth, Institute of Soil Science and Soil Geography, Terra Preta Program
GUYANA
INDIA
- School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India and http://www.jnu.ac.in/Faculty/dmohan
ITALY
- Centro Interdipartimentale per le Scienze Ambientali, Università di Bologna
- University of Udine, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
JAPAN
MALAYSIA
NETHERLANDS
NEW ZEALAND
- New Zealand Center for Biochar Research, Massey University
SAUDI ARABIA
SOUTH KOREA
THAILAND
UNITED KINGDOM
- Aberystwyth University, Wales
- Low Carbon Innovation Centre, University of East Anglia
- Heriot-Watt University also a partner of “Biochar: an effective carbon capture method–An International Leverhulme Trust Network”
- UK Biochar Research Centre, University of Edinburgh
UNITED STATES
- Appalachian State University
- University of Colorado, Boulder, Center for Energy and Environmental Security
- Cornell University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Program on Soil Fertility Management and Soil Biogeochemistry with projects in Terra Preta de Indio and Biochar Soil Management
- Delaware State University, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- University of Florida, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
- University of Florida, Department of Geological Sciences
- University of Georgia, Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program
- University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Natural Energy Institute
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
- Iowa State, Bioeconomy Institute
- Ohio State University, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
- Oregon State University (OSU)
- Rice University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Earth Science
- South Dakota State University
- Virginia Tech University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Washington State University, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources
Research Institutes with Biochar Programs
INTERNATIONAL
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- International Rice Research Institute
- Australia and New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network
- The North Sea Region Programme Biochar Project
AUSTRALIA
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
- Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
- Department of Primary Industries, New South Wales
- Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
BRAZIL
CANADA
CHINA
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Energy Power Research Center, Jiangsu
- China: China National Bamboo Research Center (CBRC)
- Environment Research Center of Black Carbon
- Global Environmental Institute
- Institute of Soil Science Nanjing, Chinese Academy of Sciences
COLOMBIA
- Cenicana (Colombian Sugarcane Research Center)
- Centro de Investigacion en Palma de Aceite (Cenipalma)
COSTA RICA
ESTONIA
GHANA
GERMANY
INDIA
ISRAEL
ITALY
NETHERLANDS
PHILIPPINES
SRI LANKA
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
- Flux Farm Foundation
- National Center for Appropriate Technology
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Rodale Institute
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Tilth Laboratory
- United States Geological Survey (USGS)