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Biochar Production Credit: Tracy Robillard, Natural Resources Conservation Service 

SUPPORT SINKS › Engineered Sinks › Remove and Store Carbon

2.22–4.39 $195.87–383.3 $-1.44–-0.73

GIGATONS BILLION $US TRILLION $US
CO2 EQUIVALENT NET FIRST COST LIFETIME NET
REDUCED / SEQUESTERED (TO IMPLEMENT SOLUTION) OPERATIONAL SAVINGS
(2020–2050)

Biomass slowly baked in SOLUTION SUMMARY*

the absence of oxygen In ancient Amazonia, the waste disposal method of choice was to bury
and burn. Wastes were baked beneath a layer of soil. This process,
becomes biochar, known as pyrolysis, produced a charcoal soil amendment rich in
retaining most of the carbon. The result was terra preta, literally “black earth” in Portuguese.
Today, terra preta soils cover up to 10 percent of the Amazon basin,
feedstock’s carbon. It can retaining extraordinary amounts of carbon.
be buried for
These ancient roots of what is now called biochar have modern
sequestration and promise for agriculture and the atmosphere. Biochar is commonly
potentially enrich soil. made from waste material ranging from peanut shells to rice straw to
wood scraps. During the slow baking of biomass in the near or total
absence of oxygen, gas and oil separate from carbon-rich solids. The
IMPACT: Biochar can produce 2.2-4.4 gigatons of output is twofold: fuels that can be used for energy and biochar that
carbon dioxide emissions reductions by 2050. This can be used to enrich soil.
analysis draws on total lifecycle assessments of the
many ways biochar prevents and sequesters When biomass decomposes on the earth’s surface, carbon and
greenhouse gases, while assuming the nascent
biochar industry is limited by the availability of methane escape into the atmosphere. Biochar retains most of the
global biomass feedstocks. carbon present in biomass feedstock and buries it. Rendered stable,
that carbon can be held for centuries in the soil—a much-delayed
return to the atmosphere. Theoretically, experts argue, biochar could
VIEW TECHNICAL SUMMARY sequester billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year.

* excerpted from the book, Drawdown

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