Sanei et al. (2024): Assessing biochar’s permanence: An inertinite benchmark

Hamed Sanei, Arka Rudra, Zia Møller Moltesen Przyswitt, Sofie Kousted, Marco Benkhettab Sindlev, Xiaowei Zheng, Søren Bom Nielsen, Henrik Ingermann Petersen IN: International Journal of Coal Geology, 281, 104409, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2023.104409

Inertinite is the most stable maceral in the Earth’s crust and is hence considered an ultimate benchmark of organic carbon permanence in the environment. This study aims to measure the degree of biochar’s carbonization with respect to the well-established compositional and microscopic characteristics of the inertinite. The random reflectance (R_o) of 2% is proposed as the “inertinite benchmark” (IBR_o2%) and applied to quantify the permanent pool of carbon in a biochar using the R_o frequency distribution histogram.

LINK