Biochar Slows Climate Change

An overview of climate change, carbon sequestration and how biochar can help.

Biochar's Integrated Solution Strategy

A graphic depicting the biochar carbon cycle.

Biochar and Renewable Energy from Biomass

What biomass is and how we can utilize it.

Biochar and Forest Ecosystems

How to improve the health of our forests while utilizing biochar

— Biochar Slows Climate Change—

The Carbon Cycle— The movement of carbon, in its many forms, between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and Earth's crust is called the carbon cycle. Plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and release oxygen (O₂) during respiration. Animals breathe in O₂ and breathe out CO₂. All organisms release carbon and CO₂ during decomposition or burning. This active carbon cycle, with CO₂ being released into the atmosphere and reabsorbed by plants and oceans, has been balanced for millennia.

So What's Causing the Climate to Change?— Simply, Earth's atmospheric CO₂ is out of balance. Scientists know that Earth's climate has changed cyclically over millions of years. However, never in geologic history has it changed so dramatically, so fast. The spike in global warming —and atmospheric CO₂— coincides with the Industrial Revolution when fossil fuels began to be widely used. Fossil fuels originated from plants and animals. Just like plants today, this ancient biomass contains a lot of carbon but it's been sequestered in the ground in the inactive carbon cycle.

Burning fossil fuels combines oxygen with that carbon, which creates an abundance of CO₂. Excess CO₂ causes the greenhouse effect, trapping the sun's heat. Other gases, like methane and nitrous oxide, exacerbate the greenhouse effect.

The active carbon cycle is being overwhelmed with much more CO₂ than it can handle from the release of carbon from the inactive carbon cycle. Because biochar has the ability to capture some of the carbon from the active cycle and return it to the inactive cycle, biochar has the potential to reduce atmospheric CO₂ levels.

CO₂ Sequestration— As described in the carbon cycle, carbon is always on the move. Living organisms exchange CO₂ regularly with the atmosphere. Forest fires and volcanic eruptions belch CO₂into the air. But trees, plants, algae, the oceans, soils and fossil fuels are all carbon sinks or sponges. this natural carbon sequestration has been happening for billions of years. These sinks release carbon at different rates and times.

Humans are racing to find ways to artificially sequester carbon, primarily by pumping captured industrial CO₂ back into the ground. This emerging and costly technology has potential but will take years to perfect. In the meantime, increasing the rate of natural sequestration and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases remains critical. Biochar technology can do both.

Integrated Solution Strategy— Biochar and clean energy (heat and power) can be produced by pyrolysis (super-heating biomass in closed system-ovens). This alternative energy reduces greenhouse gases by offsetting fossil fuel use, and since all emissions are captured, doesn't emit more. So to produce both biochar and renewable energy is a carbon neutral process as it neither adds to the climate change problem nor reverses it.

When creating biochar, 50% of the original carbon in the biomass is captured and stored in the char. Human experimentation thousands of years ago revealed that biochar is a great soil amendment, increasing the productivity of most soils (thereby enhancing plant growth which absorbs more CO₂). Now we realize, when added to soil, biochar also captures and stores carbon that otherwise would oxidize and return to the atmosphere as CO₂.

Biochar-amended soils also provide a 50-80% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous Oxide released from certain fertilizers is a more potent greenhouse gas with 310 times more impact than an equal amount of CO₂.

Biochar is Carbon Negative— Biochar reverses the fossil fuel deposition of CO₂ in the atmosphere by removing carbon from the active cycle and sequestering it in the inactive carbon cycle. This process not only enhances soil fertility, it displaces much of the need for fossil fuel-based fertilizers, thereby making the biochar process carbon negative — as long as biomass production is managed in a sustainable manner.

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—BIOCHAR'S INTEGRATED SOLUTION STRATEGY—

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—Biochar and Renewable Energy from Biomass—

What's Biomass?—Biomass is any material from a biological source. Sustainable biochar production uses crop residues, non-commercial wood and wood waste, manure, soild waste, non-food energy crops, construction scraps, yard trimmings, methane digester residues or grasses. Biomass for biofuels or biochar needs to be excess—beyond what should be left on-site for maintaining forest and agriculture cropland health. Biomass that can be converted to a higher purpose, such as for food or animal feed, shouldn't be used for biochar production. In the U.S., sustainable production of biomass for energy use is strongly emphasized.

Thermal Conversion of biomass—Biochar is produced during pyrolysis or gasification - the super-heating and thermal conversion of biomass in limited oxygen at high temperatures (350-700°C) in a specially designed furnace that captures all of the emissions produced. Conversely, conventional combined heat and power (co-gen) ovens burn biomass emitting smoke, greenhouse gases and only make ash.

Valuable Waste—Biomass, typically worthless but costly to get rid of, is now a valuable resource for biochar production. Tipping fees, overloading landfills, open burning and pollution are avoided because biomass becomes an efficient, indigenous, sustainable and value-added product for urban, rural agriculture and forest communities. Depending on size and capacity of the pyrolysis furnace, heat and power are generated and available as an alternative clean energy source for family-sized residential, commercial, industrial and community applications.

Biomass Converted to Renewable Energy—During pyrolysis, biochar is only one of the many valuable bioenergy and bioproducts produced. Volatile gases (methane, carbon monoxide and other combustible gases), hydrocarbons and most of the oxygen in the biomass are burned or driven off, leaving carbon-enriched biochar. All of the emissions (better known as air pollution and greenhouse gases) typically associated with burning biomass are captured and condensed into liquid fuels like bio-oil, industrial chemicals, or syngas (synthetic gas). These products can be containerized for sale, for future use at the production facility or used on-site as part of the process for energy production.

Carbon Credits for Clean Energy and Sequestration—Carbon credits are valuable assets for sale or trade in the offset and cap-and-trade markets. Companies that emit more CO₂ than they are allowed can purchase (or trade) credits from entities that produce clean energy or sequester carbon dioxide. Biochar is not currently a listed category in the offset or cap-and-trade market (but Europeans are using it in voluntary markets). In November 2008 the concept was presented at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Negotiations are underway for a more complete presentation and potential acceptance at the next international climate change convention in Copenhagen in December 2009.

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—Biochar & Forest Ecosystems—

Nature Loves Balance—Nature, as dynamic as it is, is always heading towards balance. Humans have upset that balance through pollution, habitat fragmentation and the suppression of forest fires. For the past 100 years, preventing the normal fire cycle has allowed some forests to become overcrowded and build up unnatural amounts of debris. Climate change exacerbates that imbalance with its dramatic shifts in temperature and moisture. With less water available per tree and increased competition for nutrients, forests have a hard time thriving .

Trees under stressare less resistant to drought and attack by insects and disease. And warm winters allow insects to avoid winter die-off and accelerate reproduction cycles. Epidemic infestations are killing swaths of forests. Large patches of dead trees can be seen in almost all habitat types. Colorado lost another 400,000 acres in 2008 to bark beetle.

An Abundance of Biomass—As we try to snuff out fires, nature finds another way to do the necessary thinning - crowded trees competing for resources end up dying and become fuel for huge fires. Important wildlife habitat is lost. Some forest ecosystems have evolved with fire and this is a natural sequence. But other habitat types depend on small, frequent fires to clean up the forest floor and reduce competition.

Forest fires burn an average of 1.5 billion tons of fuel per year in the U.S. alone, emitting almost 5 metric tons of greenhouse gases per acre! To reduce the intensity and spread of these fires , the U.S. Forest Service conducts fuel reduction projects on over a million acres of public lands per year, removing over 100 milion tons of biomass.

But remove it to where?

Cutting trees and removing brush in timber sales, thinning projects and forest restoration all create slash: tops of trees, small diameter wood, sticks and debris. This leftover material is piled and burned because there's no market for it; this actually adds significant costs to forest projects. Often loggers haul large logs unsuitable for saw timber to mills or container plants to use for pulp, chips, pallets or biomass for co-gen burners. But the cost to haul thses logs is often equal to or greater than their current market price. Hauling long distances increases the carbon footprint of the practice even more. The question is, can we intercept some of this dead material and do something intelligent with it before it goes up in smoke?

Part of the Answer is Biochar—Diverting some of these dead trees and woody debris to the production of biochar can be a multi-solution approach to reducing forest fire risks, climate change impacts and forest health. Pyrolysis units, appropriately sized for the volume of sustainably available biomass, can be a valuable asset to a community or industry, supplying clean alternative energy, heating and cooling needs, and power. Where biomass supplies are periodic or small, mobile pyrolysis units, hauled on a trailer to work sites, can be employed. Some mobile units designed to operate near the work site can feed power back into the electric grid. In remote locations, mobile ovens simply convert the biomass to biochar and bio-oil. Ideally, this biochar can be applied on-site to forest soils to enhance productivity. When markets for biochar a re robust, some biochar can be sold to off-set the cost of production. Emerging carbon markets may provide further economic balance to biochar production.

Can We Sustain Healthy Forests?—Absolutely, particularly when we first ensure the sustainability of necessary down and woody debris by NOT taking more than is healthy for that particular habitat type or area. Extensive data exist quantifying the healthy natural biomass load by habitat type. New models allow for an accurate assessment of what we can take out sustainably. Removing dense stands of dead wood and thick undergrowth in most habitat types helps maintain and improve productivity, wildlife habitat and visual quality.

New roads are unnecessary and ill-advised as there is plenty of biomass in already-roaded areas. Of great concern are the huge amounts of biomass in the wildland-urban interface, that is, where people have built homes in forests at the edges of communities. The wildland-urban interface has a disproportionately high incidence of wildfire ignitions, fire risk to people and property and expensive and dangerous fire suppression. And that's where we can do the most good: removing biomass in forests that are already compromised by development but maintaining their productivity and beauty.

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