Biochar and its role in carbon sequestration

Posted in: biobased

16/01/2025
This article explores the opportunities and limitations associated with biochar and its widespread use within the global agricultural sector, and investigates the extent of the impact that biochar can make on global carbon sequestration.

The unchecked and ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere poses an unparalleled danger to both humanity and the environment. The planet is warming at a rate that prohibits natural adaptation, and which is leading to catastrophic loses of biodiversity. Changes in temperatures and weather patterns have increasingly destructive impacts on soils and oceans, threatening the safety of millions across the globe.

Responding to this threat calls for a multifaceted action that includes adaptation and mitigation. Mitigation focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy adoption, energy efficiency, sustainable land use, and transitioning to low-carbon technologies.

Alongside efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the international community is developing strategies to “trap” and sequester gases that have already been emitted, essentially creating “sinks” in which GHGs can be contained for long periods of time.

A carbon sink is broadly defined as “anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases into it”. Typical examples of natural carbon sinks are entire ecosystems such as forests, oceans and soils, within which smaller units of living organisms absorb carbon (e.g. trees, crops, microorganisms and animals). However, those naturally occurring carbon sinks are facing threats of their own, often being depleted or reaching carbon content capacity. In response, the creation of artificial carbon sinks is being put forward as a tool for additional carbon removal from the atmosphere. Technologies designed to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere are being developed.

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This article was written by Théa Allary, Consultant.

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