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[[File:The Biochar Wormhole.jpg|thumb|'''The Biochar Wormhole''' (Pilot NFT Integration)]] Biochar is a highly compressed, porous, and stable form of organic black carbon. It is the result of subjecting biomass to the process of pyrolysis, that is, setting fire but subtracting oxygen. Its known history reaches back more than 9,000 years to the Indigenous cultivation of highly fertile black soils ('Yana Allpa') supporting food forests in the Amazon Rainforest.
[[File:The Biochar Wormhole.jpg|thumb|'''The Biochar Wormhole''']] Biochar is a highly compressed, porous, and stable form of organic black carbon. It is the remainder of biomass after [[pyrolysis]]: setting fire but subtracting oxygen. Its known history reaches back more than 9,000 years to the Indigenous cultivation of black soils ([[Yana Allpa]]) underlying the  highly fruitful [[forestgarden]] of the [[Amazon Rainforest]].


In recent years, scientific research has confirmed biochar's ability to improve soil qualities such as structure, nutrient availability, and water retention. By converting organic carbon into a compressed and stable form, it also provides a low-tech, scalable means of removing enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to prevent climate collapse. Further benefits of biochar include biogas or biooil utilities (heat/electric), water filtration, plus novel industrial applications like supercapacitors.
In recent years, scientific experiments have elaborated upon biochar's ability to improve soil qualities such as structure, nutrient availability, and water retention. By converting organic carbon into a compressed and stable form, it also provides a low-tech, scalable means of removing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow and reverse [[climate collapse]]. Further benefits of biochar include [[biogas]] or bio-oil utilities (heat/electric), water filtration, plus novel industrial applications like supercapacitors.


Despite its enormous promise as a regenerative remedy, the biochar economy suffers from insufficient support and funding. In hopes of accelerating its adoption, the [[Climate Wiki]] team has made biochar a primary area of focus. To this end, we are integrating this knowledge commons with media work for [[Kulshan Carbon Trust]] as they develop a biochar eco-credit methodology (hosted on the [[Regen Network]]) that would incentivize and verify best practices in biochar stewardship.
Despite its enormous promise as a sort of omnibus remedy, the biochar economy suffers from insufficient support and funding. In hopes of accelerating its adoption, the [[Climate Wiki]] team has made biochar an area of primary focus as we [[Permaculture#Stacking Functions|stack functions]] into this [[knowledge commons]].


=Definition=
=Story=


==Historical==
== Amazon Rainforest ==


'''Origins'''
'''Origins'''


[[File:Amazon Soil Comparison.png|thumb|Typical profiles of yana allpa on the left, and oxisol on the right.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-profiles-of-Terra-Preta-a-and-Oxisol-b-sites_fig1_12032464</ref>]]
[[File:Amazon Soil Comparison.png|thumb|Typical profiles of yana allpa on the left, and oxisol on the right.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-profiles-of-Terra-Preta-a-and-Oxisol-b-sites_fig1_12032464</ref>]]
For over 9000 years, Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon Rainforest enriched the forest soil surrounding their villages using biochar.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065211310050029</ref><ref>http://sachamamacenter.org/</ref> In a compost mix with other amendments, the use of biochar by Indigenous farmers created highly fertile and nutrient-rich soils known as yana allpa (Quechuan: "black earth"), more widely known by the Spanish term "terra preta" today.<ref>https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9031-8_9</ref>
For over 9000 years, Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon Rainforest have enriched the forest soil surrounding their villages using biochar.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065211310050029</ref><ref>http://sachamamacenter.org/</ref> In a [[compost]] mix with other amendments, the use of biochar by Indigenous farmers created highly fertile and nutrient-rich soils known as yana allpa (Quechuan: "black earth"), more widely known by the Spanish term "terra preta" today.<ref>https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9031-8_9</ref>


Yana allpa is visibly distinctive via the noticeable presence of black carbon in the form of biochar, which exists in concentrations around 70 times greater than surrounding soils.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001140000193</ref> Its high nutrient profile, cation exchange capacity, and more balanced pH also stands in sharp contrast to oxisol, the less fertile and highly acidic yellow soils which grow throughout most of the Amazon.
Yana allpa is visibly distinctive via the noticeable presence of black carbon in the form of biochar, which exists in concentrations around 70 times greater than surrounding soils.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001140000193</ref> Its high nutrient profile, cation exchange capacity, and more balanced pH also stands in sharp contrast to oxisol, the less fertile and highly acidic yellow soils which grow throughout most of the Amazon.
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''CE 1850-1900s: Geological Rediscovery''
''CE 1850-1900s: Geological Rediscovery''


Knowledge of 'terra preta' among settlers was born as a consequence of the U.S. Civil War.<ref>"Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan ''Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision'' Springer 2009</ref> More than 10,000 Confederates fled further south to Brazil, where slavery was still legal, rather than rejoin the United States.<ref>https://www.history.com/news/confederacy-in-brazil-civil-war</ref> An unknown number of enslaved Black people were forced to make the journey to Brazil with them. Enormous dark earth sites at Panema, Diamantina, Taperinha, and Marurú all became plantations for the so-called “Confederados” around 1867. Their choice of some of the richest dark earth lands in the lower Amazon for their plantations was not a coincidence, but a result of receiving local guidance.
Knowledge of 'terra preta' among settlers was first recorded in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War.<ref>"Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan ''Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision'' Springer 2009</ref> More than 10,000 Confederates fled further south to Brazil, where slavery was still legal, rather than rejoin the United States.<ref>https://www.history.com/news/confederacy-in-brazil-civil-war</ref> An unknown number of enslaved Black people were forced to make the journey to Brazil with them. Enormous dark earth sites at Panema, Diamantina, Taperinha, and Marurú all became plantations for the so-called “Confederados” around 1867. Their choice of some of the richest dark earth lands in the lower Amazon for their plantations was not a coincidence, but a result of exploiting local knowledge.


In the 1870s, a number of English-speaking travelers visited the Confederados and their plantations. In 1878, Brown and Lidstone were the first to use the term "terra preta" in print. In 1879, the Geologist Charles Hartt and his assistant Herbert Smith became the first to publish on the Amazon's black earth soils; they reported modern Indigenous cultivation of terra preta and connected the rich soils to past habitation: “Strewn over it everywhere we find fragments of Indian pottery . . . the bluff-land owes its richness to the refuse of a thousand kitchens for maybe a thousand years.”
In the 1870s, a number of English-speaking travelers visited the Confederados and their plantations. In 1878, Brown and Lidstone were the first to use the term "terra preta" in print. In 1879, the Geologist Charles Hartt and his assistant Herbert Smith became the first to publish on the Amazon's black earth soils; they reported modern Indigenous cultivation of terra preta and connected the rich soils to past habitation: “Strewn over it everywhere we find fragments of Indian pottery . . . the bluff-land owes its richness to the refuse of a thousand kitchens for maybe a thousand years.”
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By the year 1900 several scientists had reported the presence of dark earths at various locations within Amazonia. They made the connection between Native artifacts within the dark earth soils and its anthropogenic origin, as well as between prior burning activities and charcoal in the soils. In 1903, Friedrich Katzer's ''Basics of Geology in lower Amazonia'' stated that the region's "highest class of wealth lies in its soil." This thesis led him to the prescient assertion that soils were cultivated in ancient times when the region was more or less densely populated. His would be the last published chemical analyses of dark earths until Sombroek in 1966.<ref>"Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan ''Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision'' Springer 2009</ref>
By the year 1900 several scientists had reported the presence of dark earths at various locations within Amazonia. They made the connection between Native artifacts within the dark earth soils and its anthropogenic origin, as well as between prior burning activities and charcoal in the soils. In 1903, Friedrich Katzer's ''Basics of Geology in lower Amazonia'' stated that the region's "highest class of wealth lies in its soil." This thesis led him to the prescient assertion that soils were cultivated in ancient times when the region was more or less densely populated. His would be the last published chemical analyses of dark earths until Sombroek in 1966.<ref>"Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan ''Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision'' Springer 2009</ref>


''CE 1960s-2000: Scientific Renaissance''
== Great Plains ==


Wim Sombroek
[[File:Blackfeet Burning Crow Buffalo Range.jpg|thumb|Blackfeet Burning Crow Buffalo Range, 1905 painting by Charles Marion Russell]]


''CE 2000-present: Technical Regeneration''
More than five thousand years ago, Indigenous nations of the [[Great Plains]] of [[Turtle Island]] observed that the fires started by lightning spurred new growth of fresh green grass.<ref>https://www.nps.gov/tapr/learn/nature/fire-regime.htm</ref>


==Technical==
As buffalo love to feast on the nutritious shoots which sprout from recently burned areas, these fires would draw massive herds of bison from hundreds, even thousands of miles away.<ref>http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/17/1805259115</ref> The importance of these fires for buffalo hunters earned them the name, '''the Red Buffalo'''. By mimicking these natural fires through [[controlled burning]], the Tribes cultivated grasslands of fresh green growth to attract buffalo herds and reduce the need for extensive tracking and hunting.


Biochar is an output of [[pyrolysis]] - the heating of organic material without exposure to oxyogen. Any quantity of biomass -- organic feedstock given for pyrolytic reduction -- can yield carbon in this highly compressed solid form.  
Through this grasslands stewardship, Native peoples "amplified the climate signal in prairie fire patterns" correlated with wet seasons by making the most of rain-fed growth to fuel new fires.<ref>https://news.arizona.edu/story/native-bison-hunters-amplified-climate-impacts-prairie-fires</ref> This improved the biodiversity of prairie grasslands by creating greater between-patch diversity, which is especially important for small animals.<ref>https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/native-americans-managed-the-prairie-for-better-bison-hunts/</ref>
 
As grasses burned to cultivate new growth, the Tribes also gradually built up layers of rich charcoal residue in prairie soils with all the benefits that follow. A research collaboration between the Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Southern Methodist University produced unequivocal evidence of these historic practices, as "all of the charcoal layers that were dated perfectly aligned with the time that Natives used drivelines."<ref>https://www.futurity.org/native-americans-fire-bison-hunts/</ref> <ref>https://wildlife.org/native-americans-used-fire-to-hunt-bison/</ref> The results of their study showed the historical depth and [[indigenuity]] of traditional bison-hunting and controlled burning practices, with the generation of biochar serving as a lasting signature in the soil indicating when and where these practices were adopted.
 
=Structure=
 
Biochar is an output of [[pyrolysis]] - the heating of organic material without exposure to oxygen. Any quantity of biomass (= organic feedstock given for pyrolytic reduction) can yield carbon in this highly compressed, solid form.  


Importantly, the value of the char comes not only from what it contains, but also from what it does not (yet) contain. That is, the porous structure of its carbon content makes biochar act like a microscopic sponge.<ref>https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6613-2014</ref> Following this distinction, the two sections nested here provide further definition for "positive" vs. "negative" spaces of a biochar:
Importantly, the value of the char comes not only from what it contains, but also from what it does not (yet) contain. That is, the porous structure of its carbon content makes biochar act like a microscopic sponge.<ref>https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6613-2014</ref> Following this distinction, the two sections nested here provide further definition for "positive" vs. "negative" spaces of a biochar:


'''Crystals'''
==Crystals==


Biochar is the most stable form of organic carbon known to exist in the terrestrial environment.<ref>https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Biochar_SCS</ref> This is due to the fact that it is a crystalline solid with a high degree of orderliness in its molecules. The biochar process (burning within a low-oxygen environment) results in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds that do not easily break. These bonds give biochar its stability and -- being structured like graphite rather than diamond -- its black color.<ref>https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1141850676&disposition=attachment</ref><ref>https://boingboing.net/2014/04/17/why-are-diamonds-clear-but-co.html</ref> Biochar's high stability means that it resists decomposition in soils and therefore can serve as a long-term (1000+ year) storehouse for carbon.<ref>https://richmond.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/07/biochar-2/</ref>
Biochar is the most stable form of organic carbon known to exist in the terrestrial environment.<ref>https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Biochar_SCS</ref> This is due to the fact that it is a crystalline solid with a high degree of orderliness in its molecules. The biochar process (burning within a low-oxygen environment) results in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds that do not easily break. These bonds give biochar its stability and -- being structured like graphite rather than diamond -- its black color.<ref>https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1141850676&disposition=attachment</ref><ref>https://boingboing.net/2014/04/17/why-are-diamonds-clear-but-co.html</ref> Biochar's high stability means that it resists decomposition in soils and therefore can serve as a long-term (1000+ year) storehouse for carbon.<ref>https://richmond.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/07/biochar-2/</ref>


'''Cavities'''
==Cavities==


While the stability of biochar is an important attribute, it is the porosity of biochar that gives it many of its unique properties. The pores in biochar can be classified as either micropores (<2 nm in diameter), mesopores (2-50 nm), or macropores (>50 nm).<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772397622000053</ref> Being highly porous, Biochar has a high surface area to volume ratio (upwards of 340 m2/g).<ref>https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.iecr.5b02698</ref> This gives biochar a large internal surface on which various chemical and biological processes can take place. For instance, biochar's porosity allows it to act as a sponge for water and nutrients, while serving as a substrate for the growth of microorganisms.
While the stability of biochar is an important attribute, it is the porosity of biochar that gives it many of its unique properties. The pores in biochar can be classified as either micropores (<2 nm in diameter), mesopores (2-50 nm), or macropores (>50 nm).<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772397622000053</ref> Being highly porous, Biochar has a high surface area to volume ratio (upwards of 340 m2/g).<ref>https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.iecr.5b02698</ref> This gives biochar a large internal surface on which various chemical and biological processes can take place. For instance, biochar's porosity allows it to act as a sponge for water and nutrients, while serving as a substrate for the growth of microorganisms.


=Production=
=Production=


==Feedstocks==
==Feedstocks==
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Biomass waste materials appropriate for biochar production include wild detritus, crop residues (both field residues and processing residues such as nut shells, fruit pits, bagasse, etc) and animal manures, as well as yard and food wastes. <ref>https://biochar-international.org/biochar-feedstocks/</ref>
Biomass waste materials appropriate for biochar production include wild detritus, crop residues (both field residues and processing residues such as nut shells, fruit pits, bagasse, etc) and animal manures, as well as yard and food wastes. <ref>https://biochar-international.org/biochar-feedstocks/</ref>
The nested sections below organize this plentiful array of resources according to their location in wild, rural and urban ecologies, respectively.


Feedstock can be further classified as dry or wet. Feedstock with moisture content under 30% after harvesting is dry; this includes branches, waste wood or agricultural residues. Feedstock with moisture content above 30% is considered as wet biomass; this includes algae, animal/human excreta and sewage sludge. <ref>https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/788/1/012075</ref>
Feedstock can be further classified as dry or wet. Feedstock with moisture content under 30% after harvesting is dry; this includes branches, waste wood or agricultural residues. Feedstock with moisture content above 30% is considered as wet biomass; this includes algae, animal/human excreta and sewage sludge. <ref>https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/788/1/012075</ref>


Special characteristics of a given feedstock, in terms of its preparation and its biochar product, are detailed below.
The nested sections below organize this plentiful array of resources according to their location in wild, rural and urban ecologies, respectively.


🌳 '''FOREST / PLAINS'''
🌳 '''FOREST / PLAINS'''
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''
''


*'''Grasses'''
*'''Grasses or Weeds'''


''- Switchgrass - Bamboo - Ditch Weed
''- Switchgrass - Bamboo - [[Qannabis]]
''
''


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''- Paper - Pulps - Sewage sludge - Digested sludge
''- Paper - Pulps - Sewage sludge - Digested sludge
''
''
==Processes==
[[File:Biochar process breakdown.png|thumb|Yield ratios of primary processes ("Slow" and "Fast" refer to forms of [[pyrolysis]]).<ref>https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp2.cahnrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2021/11/Biomass2Biochar-Chapter11.pdf</ref> ]]
To transform feedstocks into biochar, in any form, involves a lot deal of heat with limited exposure to oxygen.
Fire will reduce biomass to ash in the presence of oxygen. Deprived of air, however, the thermal decomposition process separates biomass into gases, liquids, oxygenated compounds (e.g., wood vinegar), and solid (biochar). The ratio between these components, given a particular feedstock, will depend on the conditions of its heating. Generally speaking, lower and slower burns will yield more char, while hotter or shorter processes yield oils and gases potentially useful as [[biofuel]].
The nested sections below offer practical details on these different processes.
*Effective charring can require preparation of the feedstocks, through drying and/or size reduction, making dead or waste materials often the most ideal candidates. Pretreatment may be necessary, however, depending on the feedstock and reactor in question.
*The final step of any process is its quenching, in which the fire is put out and the char itself better activated, most often with water but sometimes with urine or dirt.
Section content, unless otherwise cited, sourced from Amonette, J.E., et al. 2021. ''Biomass to Biochar: Maximizing the Carbon Value.'' Report by Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University, Pullman WA.<ref>https://csanr.wsu.edu/biomass2biochar/</ref>
Bullet point data mostly taken from ''Journal of Analytic and Applied Pyrolysis'' 2022 (in which "yield" refers to biochar weight).<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2021.105405</ref>
'''Torrefaction'''
*200-300 °C
*10-60 minutes
*70-90 % yield
*Good for biocoal
Torrefaction is also called mild pyrolysis, as it still involves heating biomass in an "inert" or oxygen-deficit environment, but only to a maximum temperature of 300°C. The biomass will evaporate both its water content and some volatile organic compounds. This process yields a uniform product of lower moisture, and higher energy content, than raw biomass. It is also easier to grind due to its brittle quality. <ref>https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2021.728140</ref>
'''Slow Pyrolysis'''
*300-800 °C
*minutes to days
*25-35 % yield
*Good for biochar
Slow pyrolysis, also called conventional carbonization, produces biochar by heating biomass at a low heating rate (around 5-7 °C per minute) for a relatively long residence time and typically uses large particles. These conditions produce less liquid and more biochar than fast pyrolysis. In general, slow pyrolysis requires less pretreatment of the feedstock than fast pyrolysis.
'''Fast Pyrolysis'''
*400-700 °C
*0.5-10 seconds
*12-15 % yield
*Good for biooil
Fast pyrolysis describes heating rates of over 300 °C/min., which are typically used to obtain high yields of single-phase bio-oil. Fast pyrolysis uses small particles, generally smaller than 5 mm in diameter, due to the low thermal conductivity of lignocellulosic materials.
'''Gasification'''
*750-1000 °C
*seconds to hours
*5-10 % yield
*Good for biogas
Gasification differs from pyrolysis in that some oxygen is present at much higher temperatures (>750 °C). Gasification has been used since the 1800s in energy generation from coal and biomass. Gasification converts carbon-based materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide (syngas or producer gas). The gas mixture can then be combusted to generate power. While gasification technologies were designed for power, rather than biochar production, biochar can be produced with this approach.
'''Combustion'''
*1000-1200 °C
*1-2 % yield
*Good for heat
Biomass is fired and allowed to breathe, producing gases to be burned up as biomass ashes, thus driving the continuation of the process. Reactors relying on combustion are primarily designed for generating heat,  commonly used for a combination of steam turbine electrical generation and secondary heat uses such as curing lumber or drying grain.
Though the word combustion seems antithetical to the production of biochar, it is ironically combustion -- that ordinary, everyday technology -- that is perhaps responsible for a majority of biochar produced on [[Mother Earth]]. The key is that not all combustion technologies result in 100% complete combustion (yielding ash as the sole solid product); indeed, combustion technologies are imperfect. When oxygen is present, but insufficient for complete combustion, biochar can be pulled out of the system. Combustion for a boiler will generally yield 1.5-2% biochar.


==Reactors==
==Reactors==
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[[File:Nesting Cookstove (TLUD).png|thumb|'''> Nesting Cookstove''' ("Champion TLUD")]]
[[File:Nesting Cookstove (TLUD).png|thumb|'''> Nesting Cookstove''' ("Champion TLUD")]]


The nesting cookstove is a simple way to get immediate utility from a backyard biofuel fireplace. It is technically a gasifier, given its function of clean burning (subtracting the smoke caused by combustion), but still will reduce any feedstock into char. Thus a char machine is nested in a gas burner; so can a feedstock ecology become nested in a household economy.   
The nesting cookstove is a simple way to get immediate utility from a backyard biofuel fireplace. It is technically a gasifier, given its function of burning (much cleaner than smoke made by combustion), but still will reduce any feedstock into char. Thus a char machine is nested in a gas burner; so can a feedstock ecology become nested in a household economy.   


In most cases -- but not always -- this form employs a pair of nested cylinders. Their inner chamber is the reactor core; the outer ring functions as an air channel. The heating process begins by lighting feedstocks from the top, thus producing char (which falls) and gas (which rises), while the air channel allows updrafts to sustain its flame with woodgas. Given such design, this cookstove is technically designated as a Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) reactor.
In most cases -- but not always -- this form employs a pair of nested cylinders. Their inner chamber is the reactor core; the outer ring functions as an air channel. The heating process begins by lighting feedstocks from the top, thus producing char (which falls) and gas (which rises), while the air channel allows updrafts to sustain its flame with biogas. Given such design, this cookstove is technically designated as a Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) reactor.


'''''How-To Guides:'''''
'''''How-To Guides:'''''
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File:Multi-Barrer Biochar Filter System.png|10 page manual on building a multi-barrier water filtration system (including biochar)<ref>http://www.aqsolutions.org/images/2010/06/water-system-handbook.pdf</ref>
File:Multi-Barrer Biochar Filter System.png|10 page manual on building a multi-barrier water filtration system (including biochar)<ref>http://www.aqsolutions.org/images/2010/06/water-system-handbook.pdf</ref>
</gallery>
</gallery>
Low-cost biochar water  filtration systems for lead removal have been developed, tested, and effectively implemented. See [https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/engineering_batten/12/ Abstract] & [https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=engineering_batten Schematic]


'''''Projects:'''''
'''''Projects:'''''


==Supercapacitor==
==[[Biocharger]]==


The fabrication of biochar-based materials with excellent electrochemical behavior as a "supercapacitor" can be sustainable and low cost.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.227794</ref>
The fabrication of biochar-based materials with excellent electrochemical behavior as a "supercapacitor" can be sustainable and low cost.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.227794</ref>
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Biochar is a potent material of interest for electrochemical energy storage and conversion in this way. However, research needs to be carried out in resolving a few outstanding issues. For large scale and cost-effective deployment, the conversion efficiency and quality of biomass into biochar are required to be maintained without additional steps for treatments, while biochar functionalization (i.e. surface oxidation, amination, sulfonation etc.) should avoid intricate operations and toxic chemicals to retain a green solution.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2020.04.007</ref>
Biochar is a potent material of interest for electrochemical energy storage and conversion in this way. However, research needs to be carried out in resolving a few outstanding issues. For large scale and cost-effective deployment, the conversion efficiency and quality of biomass into biochar are required to be maintained without additional steps for treatments, while biochar functionalization (i.e. surface oxidation, amination, sulfonation etc.) should avoid intricate operations and toxic chemicals to retain a green solution.<ref>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2020.04.007</ref>


=Accreditation=
==Chardboard==
 
By mixing biochar with paper pulp, researchers have created a char-cardboard material which offers benefits including<ref>https://www.biochar-journal.org/en/ct/15</ref>:
 
* Compatibility with beneficial bacteria
 
* Low thermal conductivity
 
* Extended produce shelf life
 
* Electrostatic Discharge protection
 
* Moisture absorption
 
* End of Life Remediation:


==Carbon Credits==
<blockquote> At the end of its initial use, chardboard continues to be useful and restorative by adding carbon back to the soil.  Ideally those with access to gardens could toss it in their compost bin or garden after they have used it as a litter liner. Since many urban dwellers don't have that option, it is likely that a significant portion may end up being landfilled.  Even if it does end up in a landfill, chardboard will likely be 'bio-beneficial' as it can help reduce odors and toxic leaching as well as inhibit methane emissions.</blockquote>
==Eco Credits==


=Sources=
=Accreditation=

Latest revision as of 20:55, 19 December 2023

The Biochar Wormhole

Biochar is a highly compressed, porous, and stable form of organic black carbon. It is the remainder of biomass after pyrolysis: setting fire but subtracting oxygen. Its known history reaches back more than 9,000 years to the Indigenous cultivation of black soils (Yana Allpa) underlying the highly fruitful forestgarden of the Amazon Rainforest.

In recent years, scientific experiments have elaborated upon biochar's ability to improve soil qualities such as structure, nutrient availability, and water retention. By converting organic carbon into a compressed and stable form, it also provides a low-tech, scalable means of removing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow and reverse climate collapse. Further benefits of biochar include biogas or bio-oil utilities (heat/electric), water filtration, plus novel industrial applications like supercapacitors.

Despite its enormous promise as a sort of omnibus remedy, the biochar economy suffers from insufficient support and funding. In hopes of accelerating its adoption, the Climate Wiki team has made biochar an area of primary focus as we stack functions into this knowledge commons.

Story

Amazon Rainforest

Origins

Typical profiles of yana allpa on the left, and oxisol on the right.[1]

For over 9000 years, Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon Rainforest have enriched the forest soil surrounding their villages using biochar.[2][3] In a compost mix with other amendments, the use of biochar by Indigenous farmers created highly fertile and nutrient-rich soils known as yana allpa (Quechuan: "black earth"), more widely known by the Spanish term "terra preta" today.[4]

Yana allpa is visibly distinctive via the noticeable presence of black carbon in the form of biochar, which exists in concentrations around 70 times greater than surrounding soils.[5] Its high nutrient profile, cation exchange capacity, and more balanced pH also stands in sharp contrast to oxisol, the less fertile and highly acidic yellow soils which grow throughout most of the Amazon.

The disruption of Indigenous biochar cultivation and yana allpa generation by the onset of European colonization severely fragmented and destroyed Indigenous knowledges regarding these practices. As a result, much of what is known about yana allpa today is the result of archaeology:

  • Fieldwork has shown that yana allpa sites are widely distributed across the region and most likely to be near the Amazon River. They have persisted in their fertility and distinctiveness for thousands of years.[6] The longevity of yana allpa is a core body of evidence empirically demonstrating biochar's long-term carbon sequestration abilities.
  • Yana allpa sites, now largely overgrown, once had fewer towering trees, but were heavily populated by numerous shorter fruit trees. Yana allpa is so closely associated with evidence of concentrated human residence -- such as handmade ceramics and the remains of fortified villages -- that archaeologists were forced to revise upwards their estimates of pre-colonial Native populations by millions of more people.[7] The existence of large villages and cities in the Amazon which had been attested to by early reports, but subsequently dismissed following their destruction amid the genocidal violence of European colonization, has consequently been supported by this evidence.[8]

Revival

CE 1850-1900s: Geological Rediscovery

Knowledge of 'terra preta' among settlers was first recorded in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War.[9] More than 10,000 Confederates fled further south to Brazil, where slavery was still legal, rather than rejoin the United States.[10] An unknown number of enslaved Black people were forced to make the journey to Brazil with them. Enormous dark earth sites at Panema, Diamantina, Taperinha, and Marurú all became plantations for the so-called “Confederados” around 1867. Their choice of some of the richest dark earth lands in the lower Amazon for their plantations was not a coincidence, but a result of exploiting local knowledge.

In the 1870s, a number of English-speaking travelers visited the Confederados and their plantations. In 1878, Brown and Lidstone were the first to use the term "terra preta" in print. In 1879, the Geologist Charles Hartt and his assistant Herbert Smith became the first to publish on the Amazon's black earth soils; they reported modern Indigenous cultivation of terra preta and connected the rich soils to past habitation: “Strewn over it everywhere we find fragments of Indian pottery . . . the bluff-land owes its richness to the refuse of a thousand kitchens for maybe a thousand years.”

By the year 1900 several scientists had reported the presence of dark earths at various locations within Amazonia. They made the connection between Native artifacts within the dark earth soils and its anthropogenic origin, as well as between prior burning activities and charcoal in the soils. In 1903, Friedrich Katzer's Basics of Geology in lower Amazonia stated that the region's "highest class of wealth lies in its soil." This thesis led him to the prescient assertion that soils were cultivated in ancient times when the region was more or less densely populated. His would be the last published chemical analyses of dark earths until Sombroek in 1966.[11]

Great Plains

Blackfeet Burning Crow Buffalo Range, 1905 painting by Charles Marion Russell

More than five thousand years ago, Indigenous nations of the Great Plains of Turtle Island observed that the fires started by lightning spurred new growth of fresh green grass.[12]

As buffalo love to feast on the nutritious shoots which sprout from recently burned areas, these fires would draw massive herds of bison from hundreds, even thousands of miles away.[13] The importance of these fires for buffalo hunters earned them the name, the Red Buffalo. By mimicking these natural fires through controlled burning, the Tribes cultivated grasslands of fresh green growth to attract buffalo herds and reduce the need for extensive tracking and hunting.

Through this grasslands stewardship, Native peoples "amplified the climate signal in prairie fire patterns" correlated with wet seasons by making the most of rain-fed growth to fuel new fires.[14] This improved the biodiversity of prairie grasslands by creating greater between-patch diversity, which is especially important for small animals.[15]

As grasses burned to cultivate new growth, the Tribes also gradually built up layers of rich charcoal residue in prairie soils with all the benefits that follow. A research collaboration between the Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Southern Methodist University produced unequivocal evidence of these historic practices, as "all of the charcoal layers that were dated perfectly aligned with the time that Natives used drivelines."[16] [17] The results of their study showed the historical depth and indigenuity of traditional bison-hunting and controlled burning practices, with the generation of biochar serving as a lasting signature in the soil indicating when and where these practices were adopted.

Structure

Biochar is an output of pyrolysis - the heating of organic material without exposure to oxygen. Any quantity of biomass (= organic feedstock given for pyrolytic reduction) can yield carbon in this highly compressed, solid form.

Importantly, the value of the char comes not only from what it contains, but also from what it does not (yet) contain. That is, the porous structure of its carbon content makes biochar act like a microscopic sponge.[18] Following this distinction, the two sections nested here provide further definition for "positive" vs. "negative" spaces of a biochar:

Crystals

Biochar is the most stable form of organic carbon known to exist in the terrestrial environment.[19] This is due to the fact that it is a crystalline solid with a high degree of orderliness in its molecules. The biochar process (burning within a low-oxygen environment) results in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds that do not easily break. These bonds give biochar its stability and -- being structured like graphite rather than diamond -- its black color.[20][21] Biochar's high stability means that it resists decomposition in soils and therefore can serve as a long-term (1000+ year) storehouse for carbon.[22]

Cavities

While the stability of biochar is an important attribute, it is the porosity of biochar that gives it many of its unique properties. The pores in biochar can be classified as either micropores (<2 nm in diameter), mesopores (2-50 nm), or macropores (>50 nm).[23] Being highly porous, Biochar has a high surface area to volume ratio (upwards of 340 m2/g).[24] This gives biochar a large internal surface on which various chemical and biological processes can take place. For instance, biochar's porosity allows it to act as a sponge for water and nutrients, while serving as a substrate for the growth of microorganisms.

Production

Feedstocks

Sample of various kinds of biomass with their respective biochars [25]

Any biomass can -- theoretically -- become biochar. The most famous example, charcoal, simply refers to biochar for which wood is the feedstock. There are at least as many different feedstocks as there are flora.

Biomass waste materials appropriate for biochar production include wild detritus, crop residues (both field residues and processing residues such as nut shells, fruit pits, bagasse, etc) and animal manures, as well as yard and food wastes. [26]

Feedstock can be further classified as dry or wet. Feedstock with moisture content under 30% after harvesting is dry; this includes branches, waste wood or agricultural residues. Feedstock with moisture content above 30% is considered as wet biomass; this includes algae, animal/human excreta and sewage sludge. [27]

The nested sections below organize this plentiful array of resources according to their location in wild, rural and urban ecologies, respectively.

🌳 FOREST / PLAINS

  • Hardwoods

- Alder - Balsa - Beech - Hickory - Mahogany - Maple - Oak - Teak - Walnut

  • Softwoods

- Cedar - Fir - Douglas fir - Juniper - Pine - Redwood - Spruce - Yew

  • Grasses or Weeds

- Switchgrass - Bamboo - Qannabis

🌾 FARM / PASTURE

  • Crop residues

- Straw - Corn - Rice

  • Animal manures

- Chicken - Swine - Human

🏭 MUNICIPAL / INDUSTRY

  • Yard waste

- Grass Clippings - Sticks or Twigs - Woodchips - Sawdust

  • Food waste

- Fruits

  • Biosolids

- Paper - Pulps - Sewage sludge - Digested sludge

Reactors

🔥 LOW-COST 🔥

  • Nesting Cookstove
> Nesting Cookstove ("Champion TLUD")

The nesting cookstove is a simple way to get immediate utility from a backyard biofuel fireplace. It is technically a gasifier, given its function of burning (much cleaner than smoke made by combustion), but still will reduce any feedstock into char. Thus a char machine is nested in a gas burner; so can a feedstock ecology become nested in a household economy.

In most cases -- but not always -- this form employs a pair of nested cylinders. Their inner chamber is the reactor core; the outer ring functions as an air channel. The heating process begins by lighting feedstocks from the top, thus producing char (which falls) and gas (which rises), while the air channel allows updrafts to sustain its flame with biogas. Given such design, this cookstove is technically designated as a Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) reactor.

How-To Guides:

  • Flame Cap Kiln
> Flame Cap Kiln

The flame-cap kiln is a simple container made from an earthen pit, bricks, ceramics, or metal. Metal ones can be portable as well. Kilns can have any shape, including cylinders, cones, pyramids, rectangles, or troughs. Their width:height ratio should be 1:1 or greater; 2:1 is recommended. A kiln that is too tall will have trouble getting enough air to maintain combustion.

These kilns operate according to the principle of counterflow combustion. All combustion air comes from above, feeding a flame that is always maintained. The flame heats the feedstock below by radiation, which emits gasses that are burned in the flame. The flame consumes all available air to protect char as it forms beneath the flame. In other words, the flame itself "caps" this char kiln.

The counterflow combustion air keeps the flame low and prevents emission of embers or sparks. The flame also combusts organic compounds in the smoke, further reducing emissions. Periodically, as engineers load new feedstock into the reactor, the flame-cap is temporarily interrupted but quickly reforms. Once the kiln is full of char, quench the flame with water or snuff it with a lid.

Flame-cap kilns can be loaded by hand. Stewards require training to do this with the highest efficiency and lowest emissions. If loaded too fast, the flame front moves upward and the radiant heat from the flame is not able to char all of the feedstock. If loaded too slowly, more of the material may burn to ash. For these reasons, as well as their own safety, kiln engineers must be learned in feedstock species, size and moisture level in terms of their distinct loading practices.

With properly cut and dried feedstocks, the biochar conversion efficiency of a flame cap kiln can rival that of industrial pyrolysis kilns. If well managed, a flame cap kiln can convert biomass to biochar with an efficiency of up to 40% by weight.

This reactor requires no external energy inputs for heating.[30]

How-To Guides:

HIGH-COST

  • Sequestration Credit Carts

Designs:

  • Decentralized Power Plants

Designs:

Application

Carbon Removal

Biochar has been identified as a key means of sequestering (removing and storing) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either into the Earth's soil or products made from Biochar. A group of scientists published in Nature in 2019 identified Biochar as the negative emissions technology "at the highest technology readiness level."[33] According to their research, the global carbon sequestration potential of biochar (when also using potassium as a low-concentration additive) is over 2.6 billion tons of CO2/year.

Projects:

Soil Amendment

Biochar increases long-term soil organic carbon content in a form which can endure for thousands of years, as seen in the Amazonian Black Earth.

Additional benefits of Biochar for soil include improved soil texture, nutrient retention, cation exchange capacity,[34] water retention,[35] and microorganism habitat.[36]

Projects:

Feed Additive

Livestock farmers increasingly use biochar as a regular feed supplement to improve animal health and increase nutrient intake efficiency. As biochar gets enriched with nitrogen-rich organic compounds during the digestion process, the excreted biochar-manure becomes a more valuable organic fertilizer causing lower nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions during storage and soil application.

An analysis of 112 scientific papers on biochar feed supplements has shown that in most studies and for all farm animal species, positive effects could be found on different parameters, such as:

  • growth
  • digestion
  • feed efficiency
  • toxin adsorption
  • blood levels
  • meat quality
  • gas emissions

However, a relevant part of the studies obtained results that were not statistically significant. Most importantly, no significant negative effects on animal health were found in any of the reviewed publications.[37]

Projects:

Water Filter

Charcoal has been a part of water treatment for at least 4000 years.[38] Biochar’s incredible porosity and surface area give it a high capacity to adsorb a wide variety of contaminants from water.[39]

Biochar Water Filter featured in 2020 study published by Agricultural Water Management.[40]

Laboratory testing shows that biochar can effectively reduce contaminants including:

  • Heavy metals like lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, and nickel;
  • Organics such as gasoline compounds and other volatile organics, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and some herbicides, pesticides and pharmaceuticals;
  • Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD);
  • Nutrients such as phosphorus and ammonia;
  • Totals suspended solids (TSS).[41]

A 2019 study found that using biochar in modified sand filters for wastewater treatment would be just as effective as other methods in removing microbes while significantly reducing the amount of land needed, a major obstacle to wastewater treatment on small farms.[42]

How-To Guides:

Low-cost biochar water filtration systems for lead removal have been developed, tested, and effectively implemented. See Abstract & Schematic


Projects:

Biocharger

The fabrication of biochar-based materials with excellent electrochemical behavior as a "supercapacitor" can be sustainable and low cost.[45]

These capacitors are endowed with excellent reliability, high power density, and fast charging/discharging characteristics. Supercapacitors are thus utilized in a wide range of applications, particularly in electrical vehicles.

Biochar is a potent material of interest for electrochemical energy storage and conversion in this way. However, research needs to be carried out in resolving a few outstanding issues. For large scale and cost-effective deployment, the conversion efficiency and quality of biomass into biochar are required to be maintained without additional steps for treatments, while biochar functionalization (i.e. surface oxidation, amination, sulfonation etc.) should avoid intricate operations and toxic chemicals to retain a green solution.[46]

Chardboard

By mixing biochar with paper pulp, researchers have created a char-cardboard material which offers benefits including[47]:

  • Compatibility with beneficial bacteria
  • Low thermal conductivity
  • Extended produce shelf life
  • Electrostatic Discharge protection
  • Moisture absorption
  • End of Life Remediation:

At the end of its initial use, chardboard continues to be useful and restorative by adding carbon back to the soil. Ideally those with access to gardens could toss it in their compost bin or garden after they have used it as a litter liner. Since many urban dwellers don't have that option, it is likely that a significant portion may end up being landfilled. Even if it does end up in a landfill, chardboard will likely be 'bio-beneficial' as it can help reduce odors and toxic leaching as well as inhibit methane emissions.

Accreditation

  1. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-profiles-of-Terra-Preta-a-and-Oxisol-b-sites_fig1_12032464
  2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065211310050029
  3. http://sachamamacenter.org/
  4. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9031-8_9
  5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001140000193
  6. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/amazon-terra-preta-to-find-ancient-civilizations
  7. https://sacredearthland.co.uk/biochar-and-the-lost-cities-of-the-amazon/
  8. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/amazon-terra-preta-to-find-ancient-civilizations
  9. "Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision Springer 2009
  10. https://www.history.com/news/confederacy-in-brazil-civil-war
  11. "Chapter 1: Amazonian Dark Earths: The First Century of Reports"; Williams Woods + Denevan Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek’s Vision Springer 2009
  12. https://www.nps.gov/tapr/learn/nature/fire-regime.htm
  13. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/17/1805259115
  14. https://news.arizona.edu/story/native-bison-hunters-amplified-climate-impacts-prairie-fires
  15. https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/native-americans-managed-the-prairie-for-better-bison-hunts/
  16. https://www.futurity.org/native-americans-fire-bison-hunts/
  17. https://wildlife.org/native-americans-used-fire-to-hunt-bison/
  18. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6613-2014
  19. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Biochar_SCS
  20. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1141850676&disposition=attachment
  21. https://boingboing.net/2014/04/17/why-are-diamonds-clear-but-co.html
  22. https://richmond.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/07/biochar-2/
  23. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772397622000053
  24. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.iecr.5b02698
  25. https://biochar.international/guides/properties-fresh-aged-biochar/
  26. https://biochar-international.org/biochar-feedstocks/
  27. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/788/1/012075
  28. https://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/files/how-to-make-dome-school-biochar-stove.pdf
  29. https://youtu.be/YIbGkmt1VdE
  30. https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp2.cahnrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2022/01/Biomass2Biochar-Chapter4_1.1.pdf
  31. https://www.biochar-journal.org/itjo/media/doc/1434748327997.pdf
  32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCQ6NoY2-Fg
  33. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41953-0
  34. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03536>
  35. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2015.00733/full
  36. http://ijrsset.org/pdfs/v5-i5/2.pdf
  37. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7373
  38. https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/make-biochar-water-filter/
  39. https://pprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Emerging-Stormwater-BMPs_Biochar-as-Filtration-Media_2014.pdf
  40. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378377419314714
  41. https://pprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Emerging-Stormwater-BMPs_Biochar-as-Filtration-Media_2014.pdf
  42. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479719309971
  43. https://youtu.be/kazEAzGWuIc
  44. http://www.aqsolutions.org/images/2010/06/water-system-handbook.pdf
  45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.227794
  46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2020.04.007
  47. https://www.biochar-journal.org/en/ct/15