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Link: http://www.biochar-industry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Whitepaper_Biochar2020.pdf

Summary:
 Technical possibilities of industrial countries to reduce emission in 15-20 years of around 90-95
% of current emissions
 For the EU to become carbon neutral in 2050: The volume of annual carbon sinks has to increase
to 850 mio. tons of CO2 (ca. 300 mio. t in 2018 – sink potential of the LULUFC)
 Three solutions to combat the climate crises and reduce emissions
o Afforestation/Reforestation
o Biochar - bio carbon compounds pyrolysis
o Increase of soil organic matter
 Biochar is a key technology to save the climate – there is intensive scientific research which
proof the following effects of biochar
o Biochar can serves as a carbon sink within the agricultural sector
o Increasing yields of agricultural crops
o Increase in building up soil organic matter
o Increase water retention capacity of soils therefore increasing water stress resilience of
soils hence plants
o Reduction of GHG like methane, NOx and nitrate leakage
 To achieve those goals the Carbon economy needs to have financial incentives which are robust
and reliable, accounting methodologies have to be robust and carbon double counting should not
be possible  Science is needed for support
 EU Green deal wants to make Europe the first carbon neutral continent in 2050

To reach climate neutrality two things have to be considered:

o Emission reduction efforts
o Creation of carbon sinks
 Imported and exported emissions through international supply chains has to be considered when
talking about carbon neutrality
 EU’s net imported emissions are estimated to 700 million t Co2 – I guess per year – no reference

Figure 1 Historic emission

developments: Scenarios
consider annual CO2 reduction of
6% from 2018 onwards to reach
10% of 1990 emissions
www.earthworm.org
For the authors: “There is no alternative approach then creating carbon sinks while simultaneously
reducing emissions”

2. Negative Emission Technologies

There are 6 negative emission technologies which allow the constitution of carbon sinks. Here carbon
sequestration is key – the removal of carbon over longer periods from the atmosphere:

1. Afforestation/ Reforestation 4. Enhanced weathering – Mineralization to enhance soil

processes
2. Biochar/PyCCS 5. BECCS – Bioenergy with carbon storage and capture
3. Built- up of soil organic matter 6. DACCS – Direct Air capture of carbon

Carbon sinks should be developed under the consideration of the following points:
 Diversification: Find synergies between the negative emission technologies
 Scalability/Sink potential: solution has to be relevant and practicable to reach a realistic sink
volume
 Modularity: Can the solution be implemented on large and small scales
 Rapid feasibility and maturity of solution: start now! If the risk is bearable
 Exploiting local potential: Implementation of solutions has to happen on a local, regional and
national context
 Carbon efficient use of biomass and cascading uses
 Protection of ecosystems: Solutions should not e.g. destroy biodiversity
 Cost added value: Solutions with additional benefits should be prioritized
3. Biochar as a negative emission technology
 If biomass is pyrolyzed around half of the carbon compounds of the biomass are converted into
biochar
 If biochar is not burned but rather remains in the soils or is used in long lasting material
applications a carbon sink is created – under the assumptions that the provision of the biomass
does not diminish existing carbon stocks

The overall balance matters – it must be positive:

 Biomass production must be climate neutral: e.g. agricultural wastes, fast growing biomass or
residues for biodiversity enhancement – wood from sustainable managed forests can also meet
the criteria
 Emissions for the entire carbonization process must be deducted: emissions from related
transport, processing of the biomass, to any treat meant after the process, energy required to
start the pyrolysis process
 Emissions from the transportation of the biochar to the place of application and where
appropriate emissions for further processing of the biochar must also be deducted
 Durability of the carbon sink: Final use of biochar determines the carbon sink potential e.g.
annual decay of biochar in soils has to be assumed

Persistence of biochar on various applications

The degeneration rate matters – this rate determines the carbon sink effectiveness of the biochar
application
 Application in Soils:
o Mean residence time of biochar in soils is higher than that of all other organic compounds
o H/Corg ration is the most important indicator of the stability/persistence of biochar .
H/Corg = Hyrogen/orgnic carbon ratio
o If the H/Corg value is <0.4 the annual degradation rate of 0.3% can be assumed
  Irreversible binding in materials:
o If biochar is incorporated into industrial materials e.g. plastic or recyclable materials no
degradation rate
 Reversible biding in materials:
o If the material is thermally recycled, then the carbon sink is destroyed - the length of time
of the existence of the material has to be accounted for

3.2 Potential of the sink capacity of biochar/PyCCS

PYCCS = Pyrogenic carbon capture and storage
Cascade effects of biochar production: pyrolysis produced not only biochar it also produced pyrolysis oil
and process gases  those can be used in other industries
Economic aspects – Scalding effects
 Today pyrolysis plants can economically produce biochar from small amount of biomass like
1000 t / year = 2-3 tons per day
o Short distances to biomass source
 Plant with input of annual 100.000t of biomass are also feasible depending on the biomass
availability  the more cost-effective the more applications for biochar can be developed

Current application of biochar:

 High value agricultural crops
 Animal feed
 Extent the life and resilience of urban trees

Type of biomass used:

Common approach in the literature: utilization of residual woods
However, a broad range of biomass can be used:
 Agricultural biomass: Crop residues, hemp, miscanthus
 Organic residues form food processing, grapes coffee, rice husks
 Wood from landscape management
 Biomass from forest management – if sustainable
 Waste wood such as paper mill and saw mill residues
 Biomass and harvest residues that have to be sanitized to kill pathogens
 Other options: e.g. sewage sludge and liquid manure

12 Reasons for Biochar

 Biomass pyrolysis is a key technology for saving the climate
 The use of certified biochar has been proven to meet the highest environmental standards and,
when used properly, is safe for soils, ecosystems and users
 Pyrolysis can be used to close organic material cycles. This is a prerequisite for the principle of
recycling in the bio-economy
 Biochar improves the water retention capacity of soils and, in combination with fertilizers, leads
to yield increase and stabilization
 Biochar helps to build up humus
  Biochar reduces GHG emissions from agriculture
 Biochar reduces nitrate pollution of ground and surface water
 Biochar shows multiple benefits in animal husbandry and improves animal health
 Biochar promotes tree growth and increases the stress resistance of urban trees
 Biochar can be used as an additive in composting to improve compost quality and reduce
nitrogen losses
 Biochar can improve the properties of concrete and asphalt
 Biochar enables the rehabilitation of contaminated soils

Connecting the climate service carbon storage to the Carbon market

Accounting principles of carbon sinks
 To establish functioning market incentive systems carbon sinks, have to be rigorously accounted
 Strict and uniform evaluation method for carbon sinks based on baseline scenarios which
include all emissions connected to the established carbon sink

Remuneration of carbon sinks

 prerequisite for fair remuneration of the creation of carbon sinks is the quantification of
their performance.
 The creation of carbon sinks depends on the speed and extent of emission reductions
however sinks need to be created to a considerable extent/size to fight climate change
 The prices to create permanent sinks are much higher than the current prices for
emission certificates

Therefore, from an economic point of view about the creation and preservation of carbon sinks, the
following economic aspects are important:
 National and international requirements for emission reductions and thus raising prices
must be considered
 Trading certificates for sink services should be separated from emission reduction
certificate trade
 Quantification of sinks via a sequestration curve  allows a comparability between sinks
 Fair method is needed that the same sink is not remunerated more than once
 Remuneration of sink services in exchange for certificates – only if the system is reliable
and auditable
 The extent and necessity to create large carbon sinks outweighs the

Pioneer role of market for carbon sink certificates

 Carbon emission certificates exist already however the standard of the EBC (European biochar
certificate) is the first standard on the basis of which carbon sink certificates can be created in
accordance with the accounting principles outlined in this report
 Following this accounting principles there are currently hardly any markets for carbon sink
certificates
  The authors suggest that functioning first voluntary systems can gradually be transferred or
integrated into state-regulated systems
 For a price generation of sink certificates one need to compare the storage capacity of a sink 
Sequestration curve of different sink examples over a time period of 100 years might serve as an
orientation

Recommendations
 Emissions have to be reduced now and sinks have to be created
 Emissions from agriculture have to be more in the focus
 Carbon sinks are the only way to address climate change therefore
o Research is needed for technology development and creation of carbon sinks
o Market based programs for carbon sinks
o Define targets and target amounts (t CO2 eq.) for carbon sinks, similar to emission
reduction targets
o Strict separation between accounting for carbon emission reduction and carbon sinks
 Biomass pyrolysis and biochar as one component of the solution
o Recognize biomass pyrolysis as a key technology in the fight against climate change
o Support the production and use of biochar to make a breakthrough on a broad basis
o Scientific findings as the baseline for developments
o Recognition if certifications and standards to be recognized and applied
o Rethink the approach to biomass: Where biomass is burned a chance is missed to create
a carbon think – where possible pyrolysis should be preferred to combustion