Biochar : What is Biochar?
Biochar
Any biomass waste – from wood to peanut shells – releases carbon as it decomposes; but it can be burned in a kiln by pyrolysis (an airless burning technique) to create biochar. The biochar is then worked into the earth in order to lock carbon into the soil following a system set out by ancient South American civilizations – which exposes the idea as nothing new.
What is groundbreaking, however, is using biochar to mitigate our current predicament of runaway greenhouse gas emissions. According to experts, billions of tonnes of carbon could potentially be sequestered in the world’s soils, specifically from agriculture and forestry residual biomass. Biochar appears to lock carbon in for much longer than other forms of sequestration: a plant or tree will only sequester for 15 to 20 years, for example, whereas it has recently become apparent that amending biochar into soil will sequester it for at least 100 years; some experts have said over 5000 years.
When you look at the magnified picture of biochar to the right, you see a cellular like structure that has enormous surface area. We liken it to a condominium apartment complex, just ready to be filled up with nutrients, moisture and useful microbes in a way that is beneficial to roots. Biochar anchors soil nutrients and organic content extremely well at a time when soils around the globe have lost half of their carbon due to industrialized agriculture.