Biochar 101
Understanding the material, how its made, and its environmental and social benefits.
What is Biochar?
Biochar is a fine-grained, porous, charcoal-like substance produced by heating organic plant material, known as biomass.
It can be used to store carbon cost-effectively and is also a valuable material for agriculture, carbon removal, land-use challenges, remediation, economic development, and so much more. Biochar has the potential to remove up to two gigatons of CO2 equivalents per year globally. With careful planning, biochar projects have the potential to trap carbon for hundreds to thousands of years.
Biochar used as a sustainable and multi-purpose climate change solution technology can help build resilience in local communities that are high-risk and sensitive to the impact of climate change.
Why Biochar
Biochar carbon removal (BCR) is a negative-emissions technology endorsed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that creates biochars using residual biomass from agriculture, forestry, or solid waste industries. The biochar is then applied in soil or put in durable materials such as cement or asphalt. Instead of the biomass decomposing and releasing carbon dioxide (CO2), the CO2 is sequestered and stored in the biochar for hundreds to a thousand years or more. BCR is also creating essential funding sources for producers, farmers, and others via the voluntary carbon market.
Turning agricultural residues into biochar reduces the need for farmers to burn residues, while also creating a valuable soil amendment that can improve soil, reduce water usage, lower methane emissions, and save on input costs for expensive and polluting chemical fertilizers.
As a highly-porous material that reacts to extreme temperature changes with ease, biochar is used to decarbonize the built environment, packaging, and other materials towards a carbon-negative, circular economy.
How Biochar is Produced
Biochar is made from biomass such as agriculture byproducts, forestry residues, and solid waste (sewage sludge). Biochar is made by high-heat, low-oxygen processes, i.e. pyrolysis or gasification. Biochar can be created in small units at individual farms, or at large centralized facilities closed system technologies.

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