American Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology (AJEST) Volume 15, 2022

A review on Biochar Characteristics in Carbon Dioxide Absorption

and Global Warming Reduction
Yeganeh Arablousabet, Prof. Dr. Edita Baltrėnaitė-Gedienė
Vilnius Tech (VGTU), Lithuania

Abstract
Climate change is currently one of the world's most prevalent issues. Since the increase in carbon
dioxide caused by the combustion of fossil fuels is one of the primary drivers of global warming,
biochar, as a carbon-rich product, has the capability to reduce climate change by storing carbon.
It can also reduce the emission of nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases from the soil, both
directly and indirectly. In addition to carbon sequestration, the addition of biochar to soil
enhances the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the soil. Based on literature data
obtained between 2001 and 2021, this study involves a systematic framework for assessing the
growth sequence of biochar research. And based on a keyword analysis, over the last few
decades, the number of papers focusing on biochar has increased enormously that indicates its
importance in recent years. Some of the key study areas include "global warming and carbon
capture", "adsorption technology and process", "the biochar system co2 adsorption which is
contained carbon elimination and pyrolysis process. Over 16,000 publications on the
characteristics of biochar and its influence on soil parameters and plant growth have been
published by various authors. 95 publications of selected authors who have published many
papers related to biochar and have also been referred to many times in different articles were
used in this study. The most essential effects of biochar and carbon dioxide adsorption in climate
change reduction has studied in this paper.
Key words: biochar; global warming; carbon elimination; pyrolysis

1. Introduction
1.1. Global warming and carbon sequestration
Global climate change has been affected by rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely
methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and nitrous oxide (N2O)
[1], although CO2 being the primary cause of global warming among all GHGs [2,3].
CO2 emissions by humans (or greenhouse gas emissions generally) have triggered serious
debates over global warming. The Paris Agreement, endorsed by the United Nations Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was agreed by 196 nations at the conference of parties (COP 21)
in 2015, with the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-
industrial levels [4].

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While industrial activities will continue to rely on non-renewable energy sources for some time
before making a significant shift to renewable energy, carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and
storage (CCUS) is one of the most efficient strategies to reduce CO2 emissions in the short
period of time[5]. Carbon (dioxide) capture and utilization (CCU) is one of these potential
emission reduction solutions, and it is described as a method in which CO2 is absorbed
technically from Carbon dioxide point source pollution or ambient air and then used in or as a
product. CCU might help to mitigate climate change by replacing fossil biofuels, avoiding
upstream emissions, and effectively removing CO2 from the atmosphere until it is re-emitted
during the product's usage phase. Carbon dioxide absorption and utilization is distinct from
permanent CO2 removal (CDR) from the atmosphere [6-11]. Only when CO2 in a Carbon
dioxide absorption and utilization product has recently been captured from the environment and
will never be re-emitted does the two words overlap [12].
Fossil fuel combustion, which includes coal, petroleum, and natural gas industry, is involved for
more than 80% of the Carbon in the air with a treble growth predicted by present growing levels
until 2050 [13-17]. According to Tangang et al., greenhouse gas emissions lead to a minimum
3°C temperature increase on the globe by the end of the century, resulting in a 95 cm rise in sea
level [18].

1.2. Carbon elimination

Plants stabilize atmospheric carbon by receiving carbon dioxide from the air and absorbing water
and nutrients from the soil, using the energy of sunlight during the process of photosynthesis.
During photosynthesis, atmospheric carbon is transformed to sugary substances, which are
subsequently needed for cellular respiration, while the remainder is released into the atmosphere
[19]. Therefore, during the respiration process, part of the carbon acquired by the plant is
returned to the atmosphere. However, a considerable portion of it is stabilized in the biomass
structure as different organic compounds. After the death of a plant or tree, this stabilized carbon
is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide through biodegradation and non-biodegradation
of biomass. This process of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere might be slowed by trapping
biomass inside sediments. As the sediment load on the biomass increases, the pressure increases
and the oxygen decreases. In the long term, such circumstances lead biomass to become a carbon
reserve, similar to coal, crude oil, or natural gas, through a sequence of rupture reactions [20-22].
The carbonization process is an emulation of this extremely lengthy natural process, which is
intentionally accelerated by producing the necessary circumstances. Furthermore, by converting
biomass to biochar, atmospheric carbon is stabilized for hundreds to thousands of years, and
carbon dioxide absorption into the atmosphere is decreased [23]. Globally, enormous volumes of
agricultural and forestry wastes, as well as organic wastes from agricultural sectors, are produced
each year and are frequently burnt. Annually, the burning of these organic wastes, particularly
agricultural remnants, emits huge volumes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, by
turning this waste into biochar and incorporating it into the soil, atmospheric carbon may be
retained in the soil for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, while also enhancing soil

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characteristics and boosting fertility [24]. And they estimated that if all the sugarcane bagasse
produced on the Japanese island of Miyako, which is 12,000 tons per year, was converted to
biochar, 1,200 to 1,800 tons of carbon dioxide could be stabilized annually.
Soil moisture and temperature are two key environmental factors that impact CO2 emissions
[25]. When the soil is subjected to excessive dryness or wetness, the CO2 emissions from the soil
may be impacted [26].

1.3. Adsorption technology and process

For a variety of reasons, carbon-based materials have been known as one of the most appealing
sorbents for gas carbon capture and sequestration in recent decades. Physical and chemical
solvents are used in absorption processes, with the former based on the availability of CO2 in the
solvent and the second on biochemical processes. As a result, chemical absorption is preferable
for low CO2 concentrations, such as those found in natural gas and petroleum power plants [27-
29].
Implementing the procedure for post-combustion CO2 absorption increases solvent versatility.
Chemical absorption provides an advantage by increasing the mass transfer of CO2 to the solvent
via chemical processes. The absorption provides a loaded, or rich, solvent, which is subsequently
regenerated at high temperatures to remove the CO2. Several solvent families are being
investigated, including amine-based [32,33], carbonate-based [34], aqueous ammonia (NH3)
[35], amino acid salts [36], ionic liquids, and deep eutectic solvents [37–39]. The typical
chemical absorption CO2 capture procedure is based on a main amine solvent, 30 wt percent
aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) [40]. MEA has great reactivity, quick kinetics, and low cost,
but it also has degradability, corrosiveness, and high regeneration energy, the latter being the key
cost drawback from large-scale deployment.
The solvent regeneration utilizes more than 57 percent of the system's overall energy [41,42].
The potential for reducing the thermal energy need of the capture system is reported to be
significant, given present functioning is far from theoretical limitations [43].
Until recently, great work has been made on cyclic adsorption methods to reach purities of up to
99.999 percent for gas separation and purification in the form of biogas upgrading [44], natural
gas sweetening [45], hydrogen purification [46], post-combustion research [47], and so on [48].
To develop a highly productive cyclic adsorption process, numerous parameters must be
considered, including pressure and temperature levels, cycle configuration, and the number,
direction, and sequence of cycle steps [49]. Furthermore, one of the essential components that
has a significant impact on the efficiency of the cyclic adsorption process is adsorbent
performance [50,51]. Different kinds of adsorbents have been examined for separation and
purification technologies in recent decades, with activated carbon being one of the most popular
and appealing adsorbents for such applications [52-54].

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1.4. Objective
This study presents a comprehensive scientific review. For this purpose in the first part, due to
the high level of concern on the issue of carbon stabilization in soil and its role in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries, we reviewed the importance of carbon
removal in order to reduce global warming as well as adsorption technology and process.
Since biochar (charcoal) has been utilized as a soil amendment (source of organic carbon) and a
carbon sequestration method in agricultural soils in recent years and also biochar is a carbon
product obtained from the decomposition of plant biomass, such as agricultural residues like
wheat straw, corn, or animal waste, at high temperatures and in the absence of oxygen, or in the
presence of very little oxygen, in the second part of this work, the pyrolysis process, physical
adsorption and importance of surface modifications are investigated as guidelines for future
directions.
The literature data was collected from the Sciencedirect database, which is a free web search
engine that provides scientific papers around the world, as well as Civilica, an Iranian website
for publishing Iranian papers. Papers were selected from the full text publications or abstracts
which published among 2001 to 2021.
Based on literature data obtained between 2001 and 2021, this study involves a systematic
framework for assessing the growth sequence of biochar research. And based on a keyword
analysis, over the last few decades, the number of papers focusing on biochar has increased
enormously that indicates its importance in recent years. Some of the key study areas include
"biochar and global warming", "biomass derived CO2 adsorption", "global warming and carbon
capture", "biochar and environmental issues" and etc. Over 16,000 publications on the
characteristics of biochar and its influence on soil parameters and plant growth have been
published by various authors. 95 publications of selected authors (such as Johannes Lehmann
and Stephen Joseph, David A. Laird, Yu Wang and Yuting Hu, Etelvino Henrique Novotny,
Zhenhua Zhang and etc) who have published many papers related to biochar and have also been
referred to many times in different articles were used in this study. The most essential effects of
biochar and carbon dioxide adsorption in climate change reduction has studied in this paper.

Table 1Research methodology

Systematic of literature and defining scientific question: How can biochar help in the reduction of global
warming?

analysis and systematic review: Database identification, defining key words and search strategy

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identification of the studies in the field topic n= 345

Exclusion criteria: language - English, Persian; Document type - scientific articles; conceptual theoretical
approaches on public policy, infrastructure and organizational structure. Search in the field (n= 235);
ineligible studies (n= 68); potentially relevant studies (n= 135); non available sources (n= 54); relevant
studies (n= 128); studies used for the literature review (n= 95)

2. The biochar system and CO2 adsorption

2.1. Pyrolysis process of biomass for CO2 elimination
Recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports conclude that CO2 removal
(CDR) technologies will be actually needed to supplement current emission reduction efforts
[55,56].
Biochar may improve soil fertility and has the ability to sequester carbon, therefore it has the
potential to help prevent climate change (57). The "biochar system" removes CO2 (CDR).
Biochar is a carbon-rich byproduct of pyrolysis process under oxygen-limited circumstances. It
has a high porosity that changes based on the kind of biomass and the pyrolysis conditions,
resulting in a relatively high surface area per gram of material. Biochar is getting more attention
to its several applications, which include climate change mitigation, sustainable agriculture,
environmental management, and development of new materials [56,58,59].
The high porosity and other features of biochar allow for efficient adsorption of water, fertilizers,
and pollutants [60]. Soil microorganisms may bond to the enormous surface area, which provides
a high volume of attachment sites [61,62]. Because of its stable carbon structure, it is a good
material for long-term carbon sequestration. Biochar has emerged as a win-win approach since it
may function as both a carbon sink and a soil amendment to boost quality of the soil (fertility)
and water retention, hence preventing land degradation [63,64].
Negative emission technologies (NET) are created to satisfy agreed-upon climate change targets
[65]. Photosynthesis-based NETs are mostly of two types: 1) BECCS (bioenergy with carbon
capture and storage) and 2) biochar synthesis and absorption [66,67]. In the IPCC Fifth
Assessment Report, seven scenarios were considered, with BECCS being the only substantial
NET option [68]. This alternative has not yet been deployed and will only gradually mature in
the next years. The NET option must be implemented promptly in order to ensure international
carbon objectives, lower the cost of needed mitigation, and mitigate severe climate
consequences. Yang et al. [69] proposed a biomass intermediate pyrolysis poly-generation
(BIPP) system as a near-term alternative to BECCS. This BIPP system offers a number of
advantages in based on the technical, economic, and possible environmental performances. The
concept "poly-generation" refers to the system's technology having many outputs. A heat
recovery system in the pyrolysis reactor decomposes 80 percent of the biofuels to create
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electricity. The remaining 20% of biofuels are for domestic consumption. This BIPP system
provides technological, economic, and possibly atmospheric efficiency [70-72].
Pyrolysis is classified as quick, intermediate (gasification), or slow based on residence time and
temperature (Table 2). The BIPP technically denotes intermediate pyrolysis, which runs with a
residence period of 30 minutes at 600 degrees Celsius and a broader secondary reaction [72] than
rapid pyrolysis and produces significantly more biochar (33 percent e37 percent increased yield).
In comparison to slow pyrolysis, intermediate pyrolysis poly-generation generates more heat and
offers the possibility of generating power from the produced pyrolysis gas and bio-oil. Yang et
al. [69] found that deploying BIPP systems might considerably reduce air pollution by lowering
SO2, NOx, BC, and main PM2.5 emissions.

2.2. CO2 adsorption on surface modified biochars

To modify the morphology of biochar, functional groups, and elemental compositions, the
following activation and surface treatment procedures were used to biochar in an effort to further
activate it for diverse applications: Physical activation, chemical activation, surface modification,
and heteroatom doping and metal/metal oxide impregnation [73-78].
Aside from activation treatment, an abundance of active functional groups is critical for
improving the effectiveness of biochar/hydrochar applications through surface modification.
Heteroatom-doped carbons [79] have received a lot of interest for adding functionality and
increasing their outstanding characteristics[80-88].
Some essential heteroatoms are commonly used in the development of good CO2 adsorbents,
such as nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and metal oxides (MgO, CuO, etc.). Doping nitrogen has
received a lot of attention and has been demonstrated to be a promising and effective method for
increasing CO2 adsorption capacity as well as CO2 selectivity over N2 [89,90]. N-doped porous
carbons are frequently utilized for CO2 absorption, and popular agents for doping N include
NaNH2, NH3, CH4N2O, and C3H6N6. Aside from single-heteroatom doping, some
investigations examined dual heteroatom doping treatment (such as N and S utilizing CN2H4S
as a heteroatom source) for synthesizing CO2 adsorbent, increasing the number of surface active
sites for effective CO2 collection [90]. It has been discovered that impregnating porous carbon
with metal oxide improves the surface chemistry and CO2 adsorption capability.

2.3. Physical adsorption of CO2 on active biochar

It is worth noting, physical and chemical activation of biochar, has increased surface area and
regulated pore size/volume of biochars.
Carbonized biochar is thermally treated in the presence of oxidants such as CO2, steam, or O2 in
physical activation (N2 balanced). The synthesis and evaporation of VMs through biochar as a
result of carbon oxidation at high temperatures resulted in surface area enhancement and pore
development [91–93]. Manyà et al. made biochar by pyrolyzing vine shoots at 600 °C and then

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activating it in CO2 at 800 °C for 3 hours. According to N2 equilibrium adsorption at -196 °C,
the surface area of pyrolyzed biochar was 1.91 m2 g1 [94]. Because N2 could not permeate
through just ultra-micropores in the biochar at cryogenic temperatures, pore size and pore
volume could not be measured using this approach. Surface area (767 m2 g1), pore volume
(0.374 m2 g1), and micropores all improved significantly after physical activation with CO2
(0.45 to 0.5, 0.5 to 0.7, and 0.85 to 0.92 nm). At 0 °C and 1 bar, pyrolyzed and unactivated
biochar had a CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.94 mmol g1, whereas physically activated biochar
had a capacity of 4.07 mmol g1 [94] (table 2). Recent research have shown that single step
pyrolysis and physical activation can minimize reaction time and energy consumption, implying
that two step pyrolysis and physical activation can be replaced with a single step reaction. The
Rubeira and Pevida groups investigated the single-step production of activated biochars from
olive stones and almond shells in a CO2 or air environment, varying the activation temperature,
holding period, and O2/N2 ratio. The maximum CO2 capabilities of activated biochar from
single stage biochar pyrolysis and activation was 3.1 mmol g1 at 120 kPa and 25 °C [95].

Table 2 Biochars synthesized from lignocellulosic biomass for CO2 adsorption at atmospheric pressure [109,110]

3. Future challenges and conclusion

Since biochar production has resulted in the most efficient use of agricultural and industrial
waste, and it may be used to preserve the environment, reduce pollutants, and transform waste
into usable molecules. It was also claimed that turning organic material, particularly agricultural
residues, into biochar and applying it to the soil provides various benefits, including carbon
sequestration, increased soil fertility, crop and non-crop yields. However, more research is
needed to determine the impacts of biochar consumption on various soil types. Furthermore,
byproducts of the thermolysis process can be utilized as fuel.
The recent increasingly active research in pyrolysis and analysis of biochar during the last five
years has produced sufficient additional data for advantageous practical use of agricultural
biomass. Agricultural waste can be used to make biochar for soil amendment, however only
certified biochar should be used to reduce dangers to food production. However, very little
information is available on the impact of biochars formed from various biomasses, as well as the
effect of thermophilic conditions on these characteristics, and further study is required to address
the issue of which biomasses are the most appropriate. And what are the ideal thermolysis

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conditions for producing biochar? Biochar's properties change throughout time as it collaborates
in biological and non-biological processes. However, no extensive study on biochar changes over
time and their consequences on soil and the environment has been performed to yet, and further
research is required in this area. Considering that the majority of biochar studies have been
conducted in acidic soils and wetlands, it is recommended that comparable studies be conducted
in calcareous and alkaline soils, as well as in hot and dry locations.
The production of activated biochars from biomass is a viable method for creating suitable CO2
adsorbents. However, the formulation procedures should be simple because using biomass is a
cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and also sustainable way of producing biochars, but the
overall pyrolysis, activation, and surface treatment steps require high temperatures, additional
chemicals, and a longer reaction time. In this regard, it is necessary to investigate improving
pyrolysis and activation conditions in order to consume less energy, chemicals, and reaction
time.

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