Schlagwort: biochar

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Nature – Patil et al. (2025): Differential impacts of regenerative agriculture practices on soil organic carbon: a meta-analysis of studies from India

Mukund Patil, Cuba Perumal, Pushpajeet Choudhari, Rajesh Pasumarthi, Gajanan Sawargaonkar and Ramesh Singh, IN: Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12149-6

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is heralded as a transformative solution to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve soil health. However, its effectiveness across diverse agro-climatic contexts remains underexplored. This meta-analysis synthesizes results from 147 peer-reviewed studies across India’s major agro-ecological and agro-climatic regions. Using a random-effects model, the authors estimate the soil organic carbon (SOC) change attributable to a suite of RA practices, including organic amendments (farmyard manure, green manure, compost, and biochar), conservation tillage, crop residue retention, and fertilizer management.

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Chiaramonti et al. (2025): Biochar and its impact on the carbon cycle

David Chiaramonti, Franco Berruti, Johannes Lehmann, Ondrej Masek, Henrik Ingermann Petersen, Manuel Garcia Perez, Hamed Sanei, Francesco Primo Vaccari, IN: Biomass and Bioenergy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.108365

A critique to biochar-based carbon dioxide removal is that it draws carbon from the biosphere without reducing atmospheric CO₂, but just moving this from one to another storage form (reservoir, or pool). This perspective reflects a misunderstanding of ecosystem dynamics, photosynthesis and carbon fluxes. The aim of this work is to provide correct scientific framing on biochar as CO₂ removal (CDR) solution, based on scientific evidence, and clarify the underlying carbon-cycle accounting and timescales.

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