Schlagwort: biochar

Peer-reviewed Publications

Lee et al. (2026): Quantitative estimation on carbon sequestration potential of agricultural by-products biochar using chemical oxidation

Eun-Ji Lee, Won-Gune Jeong, Ga-Been Lee and Kitae Baek, IN: Bioresource Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2026.135464

To accurately evaluate biochar’s carbon sequestration potential, it is essential to quantify the unstable carbon in biochar that soil microbes can mineralize. Chemical oxidation has been used in most studies as a rapid method to estimate the unstable carbon in biochar. However, it remains unclear whether the unstable carbon fraction obtained by chemical oxidation corresponds to the mineralized carbon in soil. This study aimed to establish a chemical oxidation method that matches the chemically oxidized carbon to the fraction mineralized in soil, thereby enabling an accurate assessment of the carbon sequestration potential of biochar. By comparing oxidants and doses, the chemical oxidation method was optimized, and a condition of 30 mmol K₂Cr₂O₇/30 mmol H₂SO₄/g biochar was proposed.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Ghose et al. (2026): Techno-economic Analysis of Biomass-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Process

Aratrika Ghose, Matthew M. Mettler, Timothy A. Barckholtz, Xiaozhou Zhang, Paul J. Dauenhauer and Prodromos Daoutidis, IN: ChemRxiv, https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15006279/v1

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) processes are a suite of approaches for removing and storing atmospheric CO₂. In this work, a techno-economic analysis was performed for a CDR process utilizing low temperature pyrolysis of biomass to sequester carbon as solid char. A simplified product mixture was modeled to predict biomass pyrolysis yields at different temperatures based on their C-H-O composition; this was incorporated into a process simulation in Aspen Plus V14.0 to generate mass and energy balances. The equipment costs were calculated using Aspen Capital Cost Estimator V14.0 for a 2000 dry MT biomass per day facility processing woody feedstock containing 30 wt% moisture.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Thornbush et al. (2026): A Systematic Review of Soil Amendments Using Biochar and Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) for Soil Carbon Sequestration

Mary Thornbush, Michael Zhang, Cooper Mandel, Ethan Andrews, Ellen Kempton and Muhammad Muneeb Ur Rehman, IN: Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.3390/su18147011

This review provides a comparative critical synthesis of biochar and enhanced rock weathering (ERW), identifies key trends and gaps in soil carbon research, and outlines pathways for improving carbon sequestration and monitoring in soil systems. From a global perspective, materials and agricultural studies were read to examine the properties of these amendments and their effects in cropland and forest soils. The main research question guiding this literature review was as follows: What are common trends in published biochar and ERW studies? Major themes were derived from the stated question and structure the Discussion. The Web of Science provided access to relevant literature for both biochar and ERW, and a total of 38 articles (biochar: 17; ERW: 21) were read and covered in this paper.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Costa et al. (2026): CO₂ removal by applying the adsorption process to biochar from waste materials

Maria Angelica Martins Costa, Geisa Albini, Lucas Freitas de Oliveira, Eliza Almeida de Oliveira, Alexandre Jorge Duarte de Souza, Mariana de Oliveira Bérgamo, Letícia Vicente Moreno and Kelly Johana Dussán, IN: Environmental Science and Pollution Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-026-37975-7

This study evaluated lignocellulosic residues as low-cost adsorbents for CO₂ capture in a dynamic column system, focusing on spent coffee grounds biochar (SCGB) as an alternative to commercial activated carbon. Commercial activated carbon, SCGB, magnetized SCGB, KOH-activated SCGB, peanut shell pellet charcoal, sugarcane bagasse charcoal containing kaolin, and calcined SCGB samples were tested. SCGB was produced by pyrolysis and modified by chemical activation, magnetite incorporation, or post-pyrolysis calcination. CO₂ adsorption tests were performed in a column under different air and CO₂ inlet flow rates, and CO₂ concentrations were monitored at the inlet and outlet using infrared sensors.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Ghobadian et al. (2026): Biochar from poplar sawdust for digestate nutrient recovery and potential for long-term carbon sequestration

Saman Ghobadian, Osvaldo Romero Romero, Matthias Kraume, Meisam Tabatabaei, Mortaza Aghbashlo and Nader Marzban, IN: Chemical Papers, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-026-07179-7

Poplar sawdust-derived biochar was studied as a multifunctional material for nutrient recovery from digestate and for its potential for long-term carbon sequestration in soil. Biochar was produced via pyrolysis at 300–900 °C for 10–40 min. Considering solid yield, carbon sequestration, and phosphate removal, 500 °C for 20 min was selected as the optimal pyrolysis condition. Biochar was further characterized and tested in slurry adsorption experiments.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Jia & Kirk (2026): The inconvenient truth about direct air capture: Realigning climate strategy with physical reality

Charles Q. Jia and Donald W. Kirk, IN: iScience, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.119979

Direct air capture (DAC) is promoted as an essential climate solution, yet thermodynamic and energy constraints make deployment at climate-relevant scales deeply problematic. Current DAC systems require 1,500–3,000 kWh per tonne of CO₂ captured and stored—one to two orders of magnitude higher than point-source capture and far beyond what global clean-energy availability can support. Meeting even the lower bound of the IPCC’s mid-century carbon-removal targets via DAC alone would demand more than half of today’s global electricity, diverting clean energy away from direct decarbonization. Overreliance on DAC thus risks institutionalizing energy inefficiency and delaying essential emissions cuts. Historical precedents, from acid rain mitigation to ozone recovery, demonstrate that pollution is best addressed at its source.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Meyer zu Drewer et al. (2026): Combining biochar and basanite rock powder enhances carbon dioxide removal by carbonate alkalinity production

Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Maria-Elena Vorrath, Thorben Amann, Jens Hartmann, Maria Ansari, Marcela Cárcamo Pérez and Nikolas Hagemann, IN: Frontiers in Climate, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2026.1853116

Introduction: The combination of enhanced rock weathering (ERW) with pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS) has been proposed to harness synergistic effects on carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Synergies may arise from co-application of silicate rock powder and biochar, or from co-pyrolysis of rock powder and biomass to produce rock-enhanced (RE-)biochar. While co-pyrolysis with silicate rock powder is well documented not to affect the carbon yield nor the aromaticity of RE-biochar, the effect of co-pyrolysis and co-application on alkalinity production by ERW remains poorly constrained.

Methods: The authors quantified the daily and cumulative production of carbonate alkalinity (TAcarb g−1 basanite) in a controlled weathering experiment conducted in columns, comparing 14 treatments consisting of basanite rock powder, biochar, co-applications or RE-biochars produced at contrasting highest treatment temperatures (HTT) of 450 °C and 750 °C. The experiment was run under two conditions: sandy, agricultural topsoil under ambient pCO₂, and washed, quasi non-reactive quartz sand under elevated pCO₂, the latter designed to better isolate leachate signals originating from the amendments alone. Column flushing with demineralized water prior to the experiment and subtraction of TAcarb signals from the matrix material and biochar amendments enabled quantification of the net TAcarb signal from ERW, here referred to as Net_TAcarb. Complementary pseudo-lysimeter experiments (i.e., the same treatments set up in larger vegetated soil columns) were used to assess effects on plant growth.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Yang et al. (2026): Pilot-scale biomass pyrolysis dual fluidized bed with in-situ biochar recovery for high-quality bio-oil and negative carbon emissions

Zhenghao Yang, Yulong Chang, Hongguang Zhang, Dianhang Wei et al., IN: Bioresource Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2026.132179

The zero-carbon fuel produced by biomass fast pyrolysis circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactors has been widely applied, yet it suffers from suboptimal bio-oil quality and low energy utilization efficiency due to the combustion of biochar for heat carrier regeneration. This study developed a novel 1 t/d pilot-scale pyrolysis-separation dual fluidized bed (PSDFB) plant for in-situ biochar recovery from heat carriers and the system energy self-sufficiency solely through combustion of the pyrolysis gas.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Ahmed et al. (2026): Cation trapping by biochar reduces carbon removal efficiency

Ayesha Ahmed, Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, Chris Reinhard and Noah Planavsky, IN: CDRxiv, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20719772

Biochar may be a scalable and cost-effective means of atmospheric carbon dioxide removal. However, frameworks for quantifying the effectiveness of this carbon removal pathway are still under development. Here, the authors quantify an initial carbon dioxide removal inefficiency associated with biochar’s inherent ability to lock away cations and nitrogen that would otherwise be released back into the environment.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Ansari et al. (2026): Rock-enhanced biochar exhibits similar priming effect as pure biochar application while improving short-term carbon stabilization in agricultural soils

Maria Ansari, Annemarie Lübeck, Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Nikolas Hagemann, Annette Eschenbach and Joscha N. Becker, IN: Biology and Fertility of Soils, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-026-02030-7

Combined application of biochar and silicate rock powder might have synergistic effects on carbon dioxide removal and soil improvement. However, it remains unknown how their combination affects mineralization and stabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC). The authors compared pure 13C-labeled wheat-straw biochar, pure basanite rock powder, their co-application, and rock-enhanced biochar from co-pyrolysis of wheat and basanite. All amendments were mixed with three agricultural topsoils (temperate silty, temperate sandy, tropical sandy) and incubated for 66 days. The δ13C-signal of the respired CO₂ was monitored to determine amendment-induced priming of native SOC. After incubation, a density fractionation was conducted to investigate the potential stabilization of native and biochar-derived SOC as free particulate organic matter (fPOM), occluded POM (oPOM), and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM).

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