BIOCHAR

Biochar is the lightweight black residue,

made of carbon and ashes, remaining after
the pyrolysis of biomass, and is a form of
charcoal. Biochar is defined by the
International Biochar Initiative as "the solid
material obtained from the thermochemical
conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited
environment".[1] Biochar is a stable solid
that is rich in pyrogenic carbon and can
endure in soil for thousands of years
• The refractory stability of biochar leads to the
concept of
pyrogenic carbon capture and storage
(PyCCS), i.e. carbon sequestration in the form
of biochar. It may be a means to
mitigate climate change due to its potential of
sequestering carbon with minimal effort
. Biochar may increase the soil fertility of
acidic soils and increase
agricultural productivity. Biochar is mainly
used for soil application and is known to
improve soil nutrient availability, aeration in
soil, and soil water filtration.
• There exist various approaches for utilizing biochar,
including but not limited to soil amendment,
slash-and-char, water retention, stock fodder, and
concrete additive. Biochar has been widely viewed as
an environmentally positive material for soil. Biochar
has been widely viewed as an environmentally
positive material for soil. However, it is crucial to take
into account the potential adverse effects of biochar,
such as disturbing soil pH levels, or introducing
harmful chemical characteristics that cause problems
at the micro dimension. Therefore, caution should be
exercised when considering the applications of
biochar as research continues to explore the positive
and negative effects of biochar.
• Besides pyrolysis, torrefaction and
hydrothermal carbonization processes can
also thermally decompose biomass to the
solid material. However, these products
cannot be strictly defined as biochar. The
carbon product from the torrefaction process
contains some volatile organic components,
thus its properties are between that of
biomass feedstock and biochar.