BIOCHAR STANDARDS

About the IBI Biochar Standards

For a sustainable biochar industry to succeed, it must provide certainty to consumers and markets about biochar and its safe use as a soil amendment. The Standardized Product Definition and Product Testing Guidelines for Biochar That Is Used in Soil (hereinafter referred to as the IBI Biochar Standards) provides the tools needed to universally and consistently define what biochar is, and to confirm that a product intended for sale or use as biochar possesses the necessary characteristics for safe use. The IBI Biochar Standards also provide common reporting requirements for biochar that will aid researchers in their ongoing efforts to link specific functions of biochar to its beneficial soil and crop impacts.

Relation to the IBI Biochar Certification Program

Process for Revisions of the IBI Biochar Standards

IBI will make periodic revisions to the IBI Biochar Standards based on further development in the fields of biochar science and technology, regulatory changes, and feedback from the public, particularly users of the IBI Biochar Standards. Revisions occur in two forms—policy revisions and technical program revisions—and are effective the date of publication on IBI’s website.

Policy revisions occur when there is a substantive change to the policies, rules, and/or scope of the IBI Biochar Standards that may change the eligibility or acceptability of a biochar material. Technical program revisions occur when technical or editorial changes are deemed necessary. For further details, please review Section 6 “Revisions to the IBI Biochar Standards” in Version 2.1.

A Brief History of the IBI Biochar Standards Development Process