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Biochar:
A Carbon-Negative Technology to
Combat Climate Change and Enhance
Global Soil Resources
Feeding a Hot and Hungry Planet:
The Challenge of Making More Food and Fewer
Greenhouse Gases
Debbie Reed
Policy Director, International Biochar Initiative
Friday, May 1, 2009
biochar-international.org
Biochar
Overview
•  What is Biochar?
•  Ancient Technology, Rediscovered
•  Impacts, Utilization of Biochar
•  Biochar and Climate Change
What is Biochar?
•  Biochar is a charcoal substance produced from
the controlled, incomplete combustion of
biomass in an oxygen-free or oxygen-limited
environment.
•  As a soil amendment, biochar creates virtually
permanent carbon sinks (MRT 1,000-2,000
years); dramatically improves soils; and has
multiple environmental benefits.
•  Biochar is a carbon-negative technology, and
can remove CO2 on gigaton scales, to combat
climate change. It is one of the few carbonnegative technologies at our disposal.
What is Biochar?
•  During biochar production, up to 50% of the
biomass feedstock C is retained in the crystalline
biochar structure (Lehmann, 2007)
•  Bio-energy is a co-product (oil or syngas)
–  Thermal energy (cooking, heating)
–  Oil or gas for on-farm electricity generation
–  Oil or gas for refining, fuel production
•  Biochar production systems are scalable, and
have appropriate developed and developing
country applications
What Makes Biochar
Carbon-Negative?
CO2 Cycle (simplified):
•  CO2 is captured by photosynthesis, and fixed
into biomass
•  Biomass decays into CO2
BIOCHAR halts the decay process, and captures
the CO2 in a virtually permanent carbon stock,
preventing re-release to the atmosphere.
•  IT IS A CARBON-NEGATIVE PROCESS.
•  BURY IT!! As a soil amendment, biochar has
beneficial agronomic and water quality impacts.
Terra Preta Soils:
An Ancient Technology
•  Biochar is “newly rediscovered”
•  Concept: “Terra Preta de Indio” soils
•  Terra Preta soils of Amazon basin contain up to
70x more black carbon than surrounding
soils, and high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium, and calcium
Terra Preta de Indio Soils
Terra Preta de Indio Soil
Nearby Oxisol Soil
Photos: Julie Major, Cornell University
Impacts of Biochar
Crop and Soil Impacts:
• 
• 
• 
• 
Enhances crop productivity
Improves soil tilth, fertility, water retention
Reduces soil erosion
Reduces need for fertilizer inputs
Impacts of Biochar
GHG Impacts:
•  Nitrous
oxide
emissions reduced 50-80% from cropland soils
•  Some evidence of methane supression
•  Stable, virtually permanent‫ ٭‬soil carbon pools
)M
‫(٭‬
Water Quality Impacts:
•  Biochar strongly adsorbs phosphate
•  Reduces leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus
What makes
Biochar work?
• During formation, the
porous, crystalline biochar
structure adsorbs bio-oils,
nitrogen, phosphorus, other
nutrients from feedstock
• Very high surface area
• In soil, biochar is extremely
recalcitrant to decomposition
• Soil microorganisms and
H2O inhabit micropores
• Nutrient leaching and
volatilization are inhibited,
but nutrients are bioavailable
to plants
Source: Robert Brown, Iowa State University
Research in Past 5 Years
Shows Biochar…
•  …is more stable than any
other soil amendment (MRT
1,000-2,000 yrs)
•  …increases nutrient
availability beyond a fertilizer
effect
•  …is more efficient at
enhancing soil quality than
any other organic soil
amendment
Biochar Utilization
•  Biochar in a developing country context:
–  Household-level biochar systems can
combine cooking function with biochar
production for crops (gardens, farms),
biomass production for fuels
–  Enhance food & energy security, reduce land
degradation and desertification
IBI & UNCCD: Biochar to help
Avoid, Reverse Desertification?
Photos: International Development Research Center
(www.idrc)
Biochar Utilization
•  Biochar in industrialized agriculture:
–  Utilization of waste biomass (e.g. peanut or
rice hulls, corn stover, wheat straw, tree
waste, animal manure) to produce biochar
Biochar Utilization
•  Biochar in industrialized agriculture:
–  Waste management to produce biochar
–  Biochar can reduce the need for fertilizer
inputs, enhance crop productivity, soil quality
–  Biochar can improve water quality impacts of
agriculture
Biochar and Climate Change
• Soils store nearly 4X more organic C than atmospheric CO2 • Atmospheric CO2 cycles through biosphere every 14 years • Annual uptake of CO2 by plants is 8X greater than anthropogenic CO2 emissions • Diver&ng only a small propor&on of cycling C into biochar (e.g., 1%) would mi&gate almost 10% GHG emissions Source: Sabine, et al (2004) The International Biochar Initiative
•  A consortium of research, commercial, and
policy-oriented institutions and people devoted
to sustainability of world’s soils, and climate
change mitigation
•  Formed at 2006 World
Congress on Soil Science
•  1st international conference Spring, 2007 in
Australia (www.iaiconference.org)
•  2nd international conference Sept. 8-10, 2008 in
Newcastle, UK (www.biochar-international.org)
The International Biochar Initiative
www.biochar-international.org