Can biochar produce renewable energy?
Biomass is the worlds third largest fuel, after coal and oil. Most biomass is woody matter, green wastes, crop residues, food processing wastes (eg. rice husks). Current biomass-to-energy technology is at best carbon neutral, and isnt sustainable, since harvests deplete nutrients, reducing fertility and productivity. Pyrolysis making biochar also produces energy. As biomass breaks down into char, hydrogen, methane and other hydrocarbons are released and captured to refine into renewable fuels. Energy produced making biochar can be turned into space heat, electricity, reformed into ethanol or ultra-clean diesel. One ton of biomass can equal 5.5 barrels of oil. Pyrolysis uses wastes, and about half the original carbon and most minerals are returned to the soil, where they support sustainable, biological fertility. Biochar sequestration is our best chance to turn energy production into a carbon-negative industry. National Renewable Energy Lab research concluded that each gigajoule of hydr
