Biochar: Fighting Climate Change with Nature and Technology
While most everyone agrees that climate change is a problem we need to take action on, there are some disagreements when it comes to what exactly that action looks like. Some advocate strongly for nature-based solutions, while others claim that technological solutions are the optimal way to reduce rising carbon emissions.
Nature-based advocates can point to existing projects that are making a real, tangible impact on rising emissions, while on the technological side, both governments and the private sector recognize its essential role in meeting ambitious climate targets. The market for technologically powered Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) credits is projected to surpass $10 Billion by 2030. Carbon removal offers a complement to emissions reduction strategies, but current availability of certified CDR carbon projects is limited and identifying those of high quality requires scientific analysis and considerable due diligence — two key components of our Carbon Done Correctly approach.
Regardless of the debate, we strongly feel that climate change is not a problem that can be tackled by a this OR that solution — we need this AND that solutions, meaning we need to use every tool at our disposal to attack this current crisis. Fortunately, a solution exists that addresses both, a shining example of how nature and technology can work together to make a real impact for the planet and its people. This is biochar.
It may look like simple charcoal, but it’s so much more: biochar is a carbon-rich, stable solid that is created by heating organic material, typically wood chips, at very high temperatures in special containers without the presence of oxygen. This process, called pyrolysis, converts the organic material into a type of superheated charcoal, which essentially “locks in” carbon that’s been absorbed from the atmosphere.
Instead of allowing the organic material to decay, decompose, and release carbon into the atmosphere, biochar serves as a container for the carbon, trapping it in a stable form that can hold it for hundreds, or even thousands of years. Essentially, biochar lets us create a long-term storage solution for carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and making a tremendous impact on rising emissions, all while utilizing materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Surplus biomass and materials from forestry and agriculture are often burned off or simply left to decompose, two options that do nothing more than releasing greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Biochar, on the other hand, turns this waste into carbon storage powerhouses, locking carbon in stable structures that can persist in soils for centuries.
Carbon storage isn’t biochar’s only benefit, though. Adding biochar to agricultural soil has been proven to enhance water and nutrient retention, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, improve crop yields, and help reduce the emissions of other potent greenhouse gasses. Adding it to livestock feed has been shown to improve overall animal health and growth, and reduce methane emissions from cattle and other ruminants, which even further supports an active reduction of greenhouse gasses.
Biochar’s ability to not only reduce emissions but provide myriad additional benefits, is a major reason why we believe in the power of biochar as a viable solution for rising emissions. In fact, it’s why the latest carbon project on our platform fully harnesses the power of biochar to make a real impact. Bavarian Biochar represents the first time ever that we’ve leveraged a technology-based CDR project on our platform.
So what took us so long? The current availability of certified CDR carbon projects is extremely limited, so identifying high quality projects requires extensive scientific analysis, considerable due diligence, and stringent evaluations. Cool Effect spent several months evaluating over a dozen biochar projects. We took our time because it’s important for us to select small, community-driven projects that are most in need of the organization’s support.
Many of the projects we initially reviewed were larger-scale, industrial operations, already well-established and less in need of support, or were simply lacking social benefits beyond reducing emissions, two issues that Bavarian Biochar simply doesn’t have.
Bavarian Biochar uses locally-sourced untreated wood chips from sustainable timber harvesting in Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification(PEFC)-certified forests as the feedstock for their biochar. Not only does the project meet all additionality and leakage baseline requirements, it does so in a long term fashion — they boast a highly sought-after permanence of 100 years. That means the production of just one tonne of high-quality biochar results in the equivalent of 2.86 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide, with that CO2 becoming firmly bound and out of the atmosphere for over a century.
But this project doesn’t just make an impact for the planet, it makes one for its people as well. Bavarian Biochar then sells its biochar to the farming industry in several EU countries as an approved additive to soil and animal feed, enabling responsible farmers to make an important contribution to climate and environmental protection. Funds from the sale of carbon credits are used both to expand the project’s operations and to subsidize the cost of the biochar sold, making it more accessible to farmers who otherwise might not be able to invest in sustainable farming techniques and practices.
When nature and technology work together, incredible things can happen — and Bavarian Biochar is proof of that. To learn more about this latest high quality carbon project on Cool Effect’s platform, you can visit https://www.cooleffect.org/project/bavarian-biochar
