Via our friends at Biofuelwatch

We have just published a new briefing: “Biochar: A Critical Perspective: https://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2024/biochar-briefing/ .

Biochar is increasingly being endorsed by companies and policy makers as a ‘carbon negative technology’. Unlike BECCS and Direct Air Capture, which involve hugely challenging and expensive technology, anybody can make charcoal. Carbon Dioxide Removal offsets are therefore almost invariably for biochar projects.

Yet, even if one ignores the impacts of creating yet another market for biomass, claims about reliable carbon sequestration are far from born out by the science. “The overarching problem remain as results from biochar studies continue to be highly inconsistent, depending on what feedstock is used, how it is produced, the type of soil to which it is applied, the environmental conditions, what crop is grown, the study duration, and what kinds of measurements are made. Understanding of biochar is far from what would be required to enable reliable control over its influence on the environment“.