Renewable energy seems a promising approach to fulfill the future energy demand.

• Biochar is an
economic, and efficient material for energy production. • It can be utilized for electrode preparation
used in MFC. • Biochar is also used as a catalyst for biodiesel and hydrogen production. • Need to work
on technology for biochar synthesis with desired properties.

Tremendous population growth and industrialization have increased energy consumption

unprecedentedly. The depletion of fossil-based energy supplies necessitates the exploration of solar,
geothermal, wind, hydrogen, biodiesel, etc. as a clean and renewable energy source. Most of these
energy sources are intermittent, while bioelectricity, biodiesel, and biohydrogen can be produced using
abundantly available organic wastes regularly. The production of various energy resources requires
materials that are costly and affect the applicability at a large scale. Biomass-derived materials (biochar)
are getting attention in the field of bioenergy due to their simple method of synthesis, high surface area,
porosity, and availability of functional groups for easy modification. Biochar synthesis using various
techniques is discussed and their use as an electrode (anodic/cathodic) in a microbial fuel cell (MFC),
catalysts in transesterification, and anaerobic digestion for energy production are reviewed. Renewable
energy production using biochar would be a sustainable approach to create an energy secure world.

Biochar (BC) production

Biochar can be produced from different biomass such as

agriculture waste, sewage sludge waste, animal waste, algal
waste, etc. Many methods have been reported to produce
biochar from biomass like
pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the process where biomass is thermally decomposed
in the absence of oxygen. This process is mainly composed of
two decomposition stages i.e., primary, and secondary.
During the primary stage dehydration, dehydrogenation, and
decarboxylation process occurs.
After completion of the primary reaction, secondary reaction
start which involves cracking of large molecules and
transformation of solids into biochar and gases.
Mainly pyrolysis process is of two types based on operating
conditions
slow pyrolysis
Slow pyrolysis involves heating at a lower rate (0.1 to 1 ◦C s − 1
) for a long time (hours to days) at a temperature (300–900 ◦C).
The slow pyrolysis process provides a favorable environment for
secondary processes and resulted in increased biochar
production
fast pyrolysis.
In fast pyrolysis, biomass is heated at a higher temperature
(300–1000 ◦C) and at a high heating rate (10–1000 ◦C s − 1 ) for
short time (0.5–2 s)
The main products produced during the pyrolysis process
include solid (biochar), liquid (bio-oil), and gas (syngas).
Biochar is a solid carbonaceous material that can be used as a
catalyst, adsorbent, and fuel.
The syngas is composed of CH4, CO2, H2, CO, and other low
molecular gases that can be used in gas engines after processing.
The bio-oil is consists of water, alcohol, phenolics compound,
aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon, and nitrogenous compounds
(pyrazine, pyridine, and amines, etc.) which can be used in
boilers to generate heat .
Pyrolysis temperature influences properties of biochar such as
surface area, functional groups, and porosity.
With the increase of temperature surface area and porosity
increase due to breakage of aliphatic alkyl and esters group
present in organic compounds which leads to removal of pore-
blocking substances (Chi et al., 2021).
Biochar produced at a lower temperature is hydrophilic and
simulates graphene structure with less functional groups at its
surface.
While biochar produced at higher temperatures are hydrophobic
and functional groups are reshuffled and new groups such as
carboxyl, lactone, phenol, pyridine, etc. are introduced and these
groups can act as electron donors and acceptors.
). Types of biomass feedstock affect the yield and quality of
biochar.
Pyrolysis of forestry plants results in 30% biochar compared to
biochar produced from lignin
Lignin is a phenolic compound (having a —OH group
attached to an aromatic ring) and is a mixture of three
complex polymeric compounds.
this indicates that biochar yield depends on lignin content
reported that lotus stem pyrolyzed at 800 ◦C presents a 55%
higher surface area as compared to porous carbon from leaves
due to the presence of higher content of metal ions in the stem.
Gasification is the process of biomass decomposition into gaseous fuel (H2, CO,
CH4, etc.) at higher temperatures (500–1400 ◦C) in the oxygen-deficient condition.

The gaseous product production can be enhanced by passing various gasification

agents such as steam, CO2, and a certain mixture of gases.

>50% of biomass transformed into gaseous fuel and biochar produced by this
process is smaller in size, resistant against the chemical oxidation process.

Temperature is a significant factor in the gasification process and results in

increased carbon monoxide and hydrogen production while a decrease in carbon
dioxide, methane, and hydrocarbon at higher temperatures.

The surface area of biochar produced by the gasification process is generally

smaller and has fewer functional groups such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, and carboxyl
groups than the biochar produced by the pyrolysis process

The quality and yield of biochar are also affected by the equivalence ratio (ER).
The higher ER represents that more oxygen is fed into the gasifier and it may have
a positive or negative effect on biochar properties.

The high presence of oxygen molecules results in increased content of ash with
reduced mechanical strength and yield of biochar. Different types of gasifiers such
as fixed bed, fluidized bed, and circulating fluidized reactors have been developed
Hydrothermal technology

This process involves the thermochemical conversion of wet biomass into

hydrochar. Hydrochar is like biochar obtained using the different processes as
discussed above.

The process is similar to the natural coal formation process. Hydrothermal

treatment is performed at moderate temperature (150–350 ◦C) under 10–15 bar
At higher temperatures and pressure, water undergoes dramatic properties change
acting more like an organic solvent and favors reactions that are generally
catalyzed by acid and bases and promote biomass decomposition

Although the exact mechanism for the hydrothermal treatment is not understood it
is expected that it involves hydrolysis, dehydration, decarboxylation,
aromatization, and recondensation.

During the hydrolysis process biomass breakdown into saccharides and lignin, and
in the dehydration process water is removed from biomass by eliminating the
hydroxyl group. CO2 is removed during the decarboxylation process which leads
to aromatization.

The main advantage of the hydrothermal process is its ability to convert wet
biomass into carbonaceous solids with a high yield without the requirement of
energy extensive drying process.

APPLICATION OF BIOCHAR IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

1 BIOMATERIALS IN MFC FOR BIOELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
SYNTHESIS OF ANODIC ELECTRODE

SYNTHESIS OF CATHODIC ELECTRODE

2 BIOCHAR IN BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

3 BIOCHAR AS A CATALYST IN BIOHYDROGEN PRODUCTION

BIOCHAR AS CATALYSTS FOR WATER SPLITTING TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN

BIOCHAR AS A CATALYST FOR METHANE STEAM REFORMING TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN

BIOCHAR IN ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TO PRODUCE H2

4 FUTURE PERSPECTIVE OF BIOMASS-DERIVED BIOCHAR IN ENERGY

PRODUCTION

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device composed of anodic and cathodic chambers separated by a proton
exchange membrane and uses microbes as a catalyst to convert chemical energy into electrical energy

Despite advancements in MFC technology, lower current output and higher cost remain the main
bottleneck in the applicability of this technology at a higher scale
Alternatively, biochar a carbon material derived from biomass is considered a renewable material for
electrode production and results in cost reduction associated with feedstock purchasing,
transportation, and storage

The energy consumption of biochar based electrode is thousand times lower than commercial Pt
electrode

Biodiesel is considered a favorable source of energy for existing engines as it has high energy densities
due to the presence of C14-C20 long carbon chain fatty acids

Biodiesel is produced by the transesterification of the oils obtained from various resources (plant oils,
algal oil, or waste animal fats, etc.

Catalysts play an essential role in the transesterification of oils with alcohols and are categorized as
homogenous and heterogeneous. Biochar is a type of heterogeneous catalyst and has been reported to
catalyze transesterification and esterification reactions

Hydrogen production using the water-splitting method is the cleanest approach however the efficiency
of the process is low due to the high overpotential of hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) at cathode and
oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode

Various electrocatalysts of noble metals and their oxides (RuO2 and IrO2) have been reported for
hydrogen production but their high cost and instability in an alkaline medium restrict their applications.

Biomass contains different amounts of alkali and alkali earth metals which helps in the activation of
carbon and porous structure formation via the ionic migration effect at higher temperatures Recently
biochar derived molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) is receiving attention due to its Pt-like stability and
structure.

Methane is the main component of natural gas and can also be produced by the anaerobic digestion of
various organic waste. Methane contains the highest hydrogen carbon ratio (4:1) and its steam
reforming results in higher hydrogen with low COx production (Harun et al., 2020).

Another challenge is the presence of sulfur content in natural gas and it is poisonous to catalysts. The
carbonaceous material has higher stability and is resistant to sulfur content.
 Carbon material loaded with a small amount of metals shows a higher activity as these create high
energy active sites in amorphous carbon and attract methane molecules which leads to increased
conversion

Most of the biowastes are managed using the anaerobic digestion (AD) process and leads to the
production of bioenergy. Many researchers have reported that the addition of biochar during the AD
process increases hydrogen yield in the short lag phase