Biochar
Biochar (also known as agrichar, black carbon or BC) is a carbon-rich material produced by heating plant-derived organic matter in an environment with restricted oxygen. Biochar production from sustainable sources of organic waste is currently being advocated as a way to reduce greenhouse warming. Advocates say the biochar process is carbon-negative, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it produces.[1][2] They also say charcoal is a sustainable method of soil enrichment and has the potential to help clean up environmental pollution.
The technology is strongly advocated by some scientists, notably Johannes Lehmann, associate professor of soil fertility management and soil biogeochemistry at Cornell University. Biofuel and energy companies are lobbying governments to subsidise biochar production and to allow it into the carbon trading program, as part of measures to counter greenhouse warming.
Biochar has, however, come under criticism from environmental groups, who warn that its claimed benefits are largely unproven and that it could lead to huge destruction of biodiversity.[3]
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- ↑ Lehmann, J., 2007, A handful of carbon, Nature 447: 143-144 doi:10.1038/447143a
- ↑ Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. and Rondon, M., 2006, Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems – a review, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 11:403-427
- ↑ Almuth Ernsting and Rachel Smolker, “Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation: Fact or Fiction?”, Biofuelwatch, February 2009, p. 5
