How much CO2 does biochar reduce?

The potential and cost of using biochar at large scales are less clear. A recent expert assessment estimates that biochar could sequester 0.5–2 GtCO2 per year by 2050 at a cost of $30–120 per ton of CO2.

How effective is biochar?

One study shows that 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions could be offset with biochar production. The details on the benefit to soil are still being researched, but in certain types of soil, burying biochar can improve crop yields by improving water retention and moderating the pH, or acidity, of the soils.

What are the disadvantages of biochar?

However, when biochar is applied in the agricultural land, some previous studies highlighted some drawbacks of biochar implementation: (i) loss of land due to erosion, (ii) soil compaction during the application, (iii) risk of contamination, (iv) removal of crop residues, and (vii) reduction in worm life rates.

How is biochar a carbon sink?

A Solution: Biochar Biochar (biological charcoal) draws carbon from the atmosphere, providing a carbon sink on agricultural lands. Biochar is biologically unavailable, sequestering fixed carbon in the soil for centuries to millennia, providing a tool to absorb net carbon from the atmosphere.

How does biochar affect the health of soil?

Biochar has high potential as a sustainable product for increasing soil health and fertility in agricultural soils. Biochar’s production and its effects on soils can reduce the need for commercial fertilizers. Keep in mind when using biochar that some crop production practices and soil types may lead to different results.

How is Biochar used as a carbon sequester?

The use of biochar as a carbon sequester assumes that stable carbon in biochar produced from biomass can persist in soil for hundreds or even thousands of years. Biochar stability or biochar’s resistance to biotic and abiotic degradations in soil can be used for the description of the carbon sequestration potential of a biochar.

Is it possible to measure the permanence of biochar?

Difficulty of measurement: monitoring and verifying the permanence of carbon removal via biochar could be difficult. The potential and cost of using biochar at large scale remain somewhat unclear.

How can biochar be used to increase crop yields?

By increasing soil pH, moisture content, and nutrient retention, biochar can also increase crop yield. While the results of biochar on yield are not conclusive yet, a scientific study summarizing 16 experiments found that biochar, on average, increases crop yield by 10%.