Biochar

What is Biochar?

Biocharis a type of charcoal produced by the conversion of biomass or feedstock to a char.

The distinction between charcoal and biocharis that biochar is used in agricultural applications so the pore space of the char is maximixed.

The History of Biochar: Present day research is just starting to catch up with the wisdom of ancient agriculture. Contrary to popular belief, the Amazon rainforest was one of the most productive agricultural sites in the world from 300 B.C. up until 500 years ago. The soil’s fertility can still be seen today (4). This is attributed to the biochar that indigenous people amended the soil with. ¨The present day locals call this famous soil terra preta, and praise its fertility. Other isolated sites around Europe show evidence of biochar applications thousands of years ago with fertility still remaining above average.

Biochar’s Applications

Carbon Sequestration Biochar takes the carbon accumulated by plant matter and locks it up in a stable, long-term form. ¨The Worldwatch Institute predicts that simply using waste materials for biochar- such as rice husks, groundnut shells and urban waste- could sequester 661 millions tons of carbon dioxide per year. ¨In the United States, the agricultural land could easily “soak up 330 million tons of carbon a year” only using waste agricultural products (Rattan Lal). This is enough to offset all auto emissions in the US.

Soil Fertility On average, one gram of biocharhas an equivalent amount of surface area as two tennis court. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%;">Due to its large amount of surface area, biochar harbors large amounts of microbes, fungus, mycorrhizae, water and nutrients. This is especially important regarding nutrients that leach from the soil easily. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 70%;">Microbial activity in biochar can aid in converting nutrients into soluble forms that can be taken up by plants.

Below is the chemical composition of biochar from biomass gasificatio as seen on []
 * ~ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Composition & Analysis:**  ||~ ** <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">Biochar by Weight %  ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Proximate Analysis:**  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Volatile Matter**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**7.6**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Fixed Carbon**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**90.2**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Ash**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**2.2**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Ultimate Analysis (daf)**  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Carbon**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**98.58**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Hydrogen**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**0.4**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Oxygen**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**0**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Nitrogen**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**1.0**  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica;">**Sulfur**  || <span style="font-family:  Arial,Helvetica;">**0.02**  ||