Biochar – Clean Energy, Soil Restoration, Economic Viability

When I first heard the word “biochar,” it didn’t exactly conjure notions of sustainability, clean energy, or economic viability. The word’s syllables, strung together, sounded more like a reference to some sort of eco-firewood. Close, but no cigar: turns out biochar is a relatively carbon neutral technology that could hold its own in the biofuel market. Is this a concept too good to be true?
Biochar is, essentially, man-produced charcoal: biomaterial (i.e. wood, municipal, and agricultural waste) heated in a low oxygen environment. (The carbon in biochar resists degradation, making it relatively carbon neutral, and biochar byproducts [primarily oils and gases] can be used as fuel, making biochar a significant clean energy development.) Biochar can be used used for soil amendment (restoration of soil’s natural balance for improved plant growth, plant disease protection, fertilization, and other benefits) as well as heating, cooking, and power generation. While naturally-occurring charcoal has been used to in farming for thousands of years or more, current industrial biochar production techniques have the potential for large-scale economic and environmental benefits, including the curbing of CO2 emissions, provision of easily-accessible fuel, and the increasing of food production capacity in soil- and water-depleted areas.

Triple Pundit