Tag: biochar

Peer-reviewed Publications

Perumalsamy et al. (2025): Materials-Based Approach for Enhanced Soil Carbon (C) Sequestration

Vibin Perumalsamy, Muhammad Ibrar Ahmed, Zhihao Lei, Ehsan Tavakkoli, Edward D. Burton, Nanthi Bolan, Ajayan Vinu and Jiabao Yi, IN: Small, https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202510943

This review highlights recent advances in the use of nanostructured and natural nanoclay materials for soil carbon management. It outlines the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC), key challenges in SOC flux, the mechanisms of sequestration, and the societal implications of implementing these materials, providing groundwork for future research in this critical area.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Xu et al. (2025): Microbial-driven iron transformation and carbon stabilisation in flooded soils: roles of biochar and rock weathering

Qiao Xu, Gefeng Zhang, Feifan Zhang, Tharanga Bandara, Hongyan Guo, Meiling Xu and Caixian Tang, IN: Plant and Soil, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-08168-x

The escalating climate crisis demands innovative carbon dioxide removal strategies, with biochar and enhanced rock weathering (ERW) emerging as promising carbon-negative solutions. However, their contrasting effects on iron (Fe) (hydr)oxide–organic carbon (OC) interactions, a key mechanism underlying mineral-mediated C persistence, remain poorly understood.

A pot experiment examined the effects of biochar and enhanced basalt weathering alone and in combination on Fe oxide phases, C-binding capacity, Fe-complexed OC characteristics, and shifts in Fe-oxidising and reducing microbial communities via 16S rRNA sequencing in a paddy soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maslouski et al. (2025): Long-term carbon dioxide removal potential from the application of wood biochar and basanite rock powder in sandy soil using the LiDELSv2 process-based modeling approach

Mikita Maslouski, Maria Ansari, Susanne E Hamburger, Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Nikolas Hagemann, Annette Eschenbach, Christian Beer, Joscha N Becker, Claudia I Kammann, Maria-Elena Vorrath and Philipp Porada, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae21f6

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations requires scalable and effective carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. pyrogenic carbon capture and storage relies on the pyrolysis of biomass and the non-oxidative use of biochar, e.g. in soils. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) captures CO₂ by forming dissolved bicarbonate. In addition to CDR, both methods may offer soil improvement as a co-benefit. However, their interaction and combined CDR potential remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors investigate their individual and combined effects on carbon dynamics in a temperate agricultural soil. Using the process-based LiDELSv2 model calibrated against data from the lysimeter experiment, they simulate 1000 year impacts of applying 4.2 wt% wood biochar, 2 wt% basanite rock powder (RP), their co-application, and co-pyrolyzed material (rock-enhanced biochar, RE-biochar) on soil organic carbon (SOC), net primary production (NPP), net CO₂ ecosystem exchange (NEE), and calcium (Ca²⁺) leaching in a northern German sandy soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maslouski et al. (2025): Long-term carbon dioxide removal potential from the application of wood biochar and basanite rock powder in sandy soil using the LiDELSv2 process-based modeling approach

Mikita Maslouski, Maria Ansari, Susanne E Hamburger, Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Nikolas Hagemann, Annette Eschenbach, Christian Beer, Joscha N Becker, Claudia I Kammann, Maria-Elena Vorrath and Philipp Porada, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae21f6

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations requires scalable and effective carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. pyrogenic carbon capture and storage relies on the pyrolysis of biomass and the non-oxidative use of biochar, e.g. in soils. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) captures CO₂ by forming dissolved bicarbonate. In addition to CDR, both methods may offer soil improvement as a co-benefit. However, their interaction and combined CDR potential remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors investigate their individual and combined effects on carbon dynamics in a temperate agricultural soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Syaranamual et al. (2025): Influence of biochar, compost, and their combination on carbon mineralisation and the priming effect in low-carbon soil: an incubation experiment

Siska Syaranamual, Bahareh Bicharanloo, Shamim Mia & Feike A. Dijkstra, IN: Carbon Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s44378-025-00139-z

Integrating biochar and compost into soils can enhance both carbon (C) sequestration and soil fertility. However, their combined effects on C mineralisation and priming in C-poor soils are not well understood. To address this gap, the authors conducted a 120-day laboratory incubation study. They applied biochar (2%) and compost (2%) individually and in combination (1% each) to a soil with low organic C content (0.12%).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Han et al. (2025): Biochar-driven soil carbon sequestration: priming effects and emission reduction

Wei Han, Yujian Lai and Hongbing Ji, IN: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/em/d5em00500k/unauth

This review critically analyzes the key mechanisms through which biochar stabilizes soil organic carbon, in accordance with the bidirectionality of priming effects.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Chiaramonti et al. (2025): Is soil sampling appropriate for quantitative carbon accounting for biochar? An experimental investigation to assess soil carbon accumulation

David Chiaramonti, Giulia Lotti, Francesca Tozzi, David Casini, Francesco Primo Vaccari, Hamed Sanei, Michaela Luconi and Marco Buffi, IN: Biomass and Bioenergy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.108537

Biochar, a major CDR method with significant co-benefits to agriculture, is listed as a sustainable agricultural method for SCA in sustainable biofuel regulations. In Europe, this is accounted via the esca factor (REDII-IR), while at international level this is considered through the Fsca factor. Fsca is analogous to esca in REDII, with similar, even if not identical, requirements (ICAO, for SAF). RED-II requires soil sampling to quantitatively assess the SCA from biochar addition: instead, ICAO CORSIA, as well as the draft incoming EU-CRCF (for voluntary carbon removals), require full characterization of biochar, incorporation in soil and third-party auditing during deployment (ICAO), but not necessarily soil sampling. This study presents experimental evidence evaluating the adequacy of current soil sampling protocols for the quantitative accounting of carbon saving/removals from biochar application to soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Grimm et al. (2025): Assessing biomass carbon dioxide removal supply chains: System modelling and economic assessment

Veronika Grimm, Kiana Niazmand and Philipp Runge, IN: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116298

Pyrolytic conversion of biomass is used to produce biochar—a stable form of solid carbon storage that is becoming an effective carbon dioxide removal method—and to produce sustainable liquid hydrocarbons that can contribute to sustainable shipping and aviation. This study aims to assess the economics of biochar carbon removal (BCR) across the entire supply chain.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Soares de Souza et al. (2025): Carbon Sequestration with Biochar: Global Trends, Knowledge Gaps, and Future Directions

Darliane Cristina Soares de Souza, Juciane Vieira de Assis Freire et al., IN: ACS ES&T Water, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.5c00606

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes biochar as a central carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy, included in all scenarios to achieve net-zero emissions. However, scientific debate persists regarding the most appropriate methods for estimating the persistence of biochar-derived carbon in soils. These estimates are crucial for greenhouse gas inventories, carbon credit projects, and life cycle assessments (LCA), making it essential to map and critically analyze scientific output on this subject. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of global production between 2009 and 2025, based on a Web of Science search using the terms “biochar,” “carbon sequestration,” and “modeling,” resulting in 448 articles.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Sanei et al. (2025): Quantifying inertinite carbon in biochar

Hamed Sanei, Małgorzata Wojtaszek-Kalaitzidi, Niels Hemmingsen Schovsbo, Rasmus Stenshøj, Zhiheng Zhou, Hans-Peter Schmidt, Nikolas Hagemann, David Chiaramonti, Tryfonas Kiaitsis, Arka Rudra, Anna J. Lehner, Robert W. Brown, Sophie Gill, Erica Dorr, Stavros Kalaitzidis, Fariborz Goodarzi and Henrik Ingermann Petersen, IN: International Journal of Coal Geology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2025.104886

The carbon dioxide removal (CDR) potential of biochar is determined by the long-term stability of its biogenic carbon, derived from atmospheric CO₂ fixed by photosynthesis and stabilized in solid form. This stability (carbon permanence) is commonly assessed using decay models to evaluate resistance to re-emission as greenhouse gases. However, these models are limited, as they focus primarily on short-term degradation of labile carbon fractions and are not suited to project the behavior of the highly recalcitrant component of biochar over extended timescales. Inertinite represents highly aromatized and condensed carbon structures that are geochemically stable over millennia. This paper builds upon the Inertinite Benchmarking (IBRo₂) methodology, directly quantifying the stable carbon fraction in biochar rather than relying on modeling. The method combines thermochemical analysis and incident-light microscopy to measure the reactive (labile) component and solid carbonized macerals, respectively.

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