Biochar
Food
Biochar results from slowly baking biomass in the absence of oxygen. Retaining most of the feedstock's carbon, biochar can be buried for sequestration, while enriching soil.
Rank and results by 2050 #72
Biochar
| Reduced CO2: | 1 gigatons |
|---|
TOTAL CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)
Total CO2-equivalent reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2050 (gigatons)
NET COST (billions US $)
Net cost to implement
SAVINGS (billions US $)
Net savings by 2050
Impact:
Biochar can produce 0.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions reductions by 2050. This analysis draws on total lifecycle assessments of the many ways biochar prevents and sequesters greenhouse gases, while assuming the nascent biochar industry is limited by the availability of global biomass feedstocks.
Biochar
Food
Biochar results from slowly baking biomass in the absence of oxygen. Retaining most of the feedstock's carbon, biochar can be buried for sequestration, while enriching soil.
In ancient Amazonia, the waste disposal method of choice was to bury and burn. Wastes were baked beneath a layer of soil. This process, known as pyrolysis, produced a charcoal soil amendment rich in carbon. The result was terra preta, literally “black earth” in Portuguese. Today, terra preta soils cover up to 10 percent of the Amazon basin, retaining extraordinary amounts of carbon.
These ancient roots of what is now called biochar have modern promise for agriculture and the atmosphere. Biochar is commonly made from waste material ranging from peanut shells to rice straw to wood scraps. During the slow baking of biomass in the near or total absence of oxygen, gas and oil separate from carbon-rich solids. The output is twofold: fuels that can be used for energy and biochar that can be used to enrich soil.
When biomass decomposes on the earth’s surface, carbon and methane escape into the atmosphere. Biochar retains most of the carbon present in biomass feedstock and buries it. Rendered stable, that carbon can be held for centuries in the soil—a much-delayed return to the atmosphere. Theoretically, experts argue, biochar could sequester billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year.
