Introduction of Biochar

Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis  of biomass, and differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture and storage.  Charcoal is a stable solid rich in carbon content, and thus, can be used to lock carbon in the soil. Biochar is of increasing interest because of concerns about climate change caused by emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG). Carbon dioxide capture also ties up large amounts of oxygen and requires energy for injection (as via carbon capture and storage), whereas the biochar process breaks into the carbon dioxide cycle, thus releasing oxygen as did coal formation hundreds of millions of years ago. Biochar is a way for carbon to be drawn from the atmosphere and is a solution to reducing the global impact of farming (and in reducing the impact from all agricultural waste). Since biochar can sequester carbon in the soil for hundreds to thousands of years, it has received considerable interest as a potential tool to slow global warming. The burning and natural decomposition of trees and agricultural matter contributes a large amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere. Biochar can store this carbon in the ground, potentially making a significant reduction in atmospheric GHG levels; at the same time its presence in the earth can improve water quality, increase soil fertility, raise agricultural productivity and reduce pressure on old growth forests.

Current biochar projects are small scale and make no significant impact on the overall global carbon budget, although expansion of this technique has been advocated as a geoengineering approach. As trees pull down carbon dioxide and release oxygen very efficiently they are already well suited to geoengineering. Further research is in progress, notably by the University of Georgia, which has a dedicated research unit. Agrichar is produced by Best Industries in Australia.

The approach which favors applications that benefit the poorest is gaining traction: in May 2009, the Biochar Fund received a grant from the Congo Basin Forest Fund to implement its concept in Central Africa. In this concept, biochar is a tool used to simultaneously slow down deforestation, increase the food security of rural communities, provide renewable energy to them and sequester carbon.