“Biochar Will Save the World!” proclaims a group page on Facebook. Popular mechanics writes of an “ancient charcoal” that can “put the brakes on global warming.” More than its prospects as a carbon sink or a fuel, biochar has massive prospects for development (the economic kind) for developing countries and emerging markets. But is it really that simple?

Whether for enhancing crop yields by improving soils (increased nutrient/cation availability and water-retention ability making them ideal for use in agricultural soils) , or storing massive amounts of carbon in the soil, biochar is creating its own energy wave right now.  If you’d like to see how the company re:char make biochar check out this [...]

“There is one way we could save ourselves, and that is through the massive burial of charcoal” James Lovelock Converting biomass into charcoal type char which can be used to improve soil fertility, while also trapping carbon dioxide, certainly has major attractions. Some energy is generated too. But a key issue is whether, in net [...]

The biochar process is carbon negative: it removes net carbon from the atmosphere. When a green plant grows it takes CO2 out of the air to build its body. All of the carbon in the plant came from CO2 taken out of the air, and returns to the air when the plant dies and decomposes. [...]

The Economist CHARCOAL has rather gone out of fashion. Before the industrial revolution, whole forests disappeared into the charcoal-burners’ maw to provide the carbon that ironmakers need to reduce their ore to metal. Then, an English ironmaker called Abraham Darby discovered how to do the job with coke. From that point onward, the charcoal-burners’ days [...]