the Biochar Journal (tBJ)

Artisan biochar production via flame curtain pyrolysis (Kon-Tiki) emits 36% less methane than open burning of the same biomass. Dry feedstocks keeping emissions far below current standard assumptions. The findings point to feedstock moisture content as the single most critical lever for minimizing methane emissions—and offer a practical pathway for cleaner, climate-positive biochar production.

The Ithaka Institute is pioneering a globally unique, long-term field experiment in Nepal. This groundbreaking project systematically compares nine diverse carbon farming systems, forging a powerful synergy between scientific inquiry and the deep-rooted practices of farmers. The goal is to uncover the ultimate strategies for maximizing carbon sequestration and agricultural abundance. More than just a research site, the Ratanpur Carbon Farming Experiment stands as a vibrant, interactive learning space for local villagers, global students, and curious visitors. The present interim report reveals the early wins, inevitable challenges,...

The projected growth of the plastics industry would require the carbon from nearly half of today's crude oil production. This alone would make all climate targets unattainable. But there is another way. Instead of sourcing it from fossil sources, the necessary carbon can also be drawn down from the atmosphere. This would not only help to save the climate but also make nations more independent of raw material imports.

Thirty years from now, the citizens of one of the last democratic nations will have elected a president who promises to save the supreme people from the terrestrial inferno. The president's good friend commands thousands of spaceships already hovering in the upper layers of the atmosphere, where they capture CO₂ and CH₄. Inside these vessels, the gases are transformed into pure, highly densified carbon. Once fully loaded, the ships are ejected to the Moon or Mars.

Does it make a difference for the climate if I compensate my annual 10 tonnes of CO₂ emissions by purchasing 5 tonnes of biochar and applying them to one hectare of our vineyards? Or better yet, should I offset all 80 tonnes produced by the whole family — including the grandparents? That would amount to 40 tonnes of biochar. Every year! At current prices, that would amount to more than €40,000 annually — or €2 million over 50 years.

The Ithaka Institute has developed biochar-based additives for high-performance sports gear to prove the advantages of carbon removed from the atmosphere. Injected into glass- and carbon-fiber materials, biochar-based NanoC reduces vibrations and increases energy recovery from elastic deformation in equipment such as snowboards and skis. In the 2024/25 World Cup season, Maurizio Bormolini won the overall Alpine Snowboard World Cup title on C-Sink snowboards. Remarkably, the top four riders in the world and seven of the top ten in the World Cup also used the power of biochar in their snowboards.

The combustion of fossil oil, natural gas, and coal has increased the CO2 content of the atmosphere by a solid 30%. As carbon is constantly exchanged between the atmosphere, biosphere, sea, and soil, the fossil carbon emitted initially into the atmosphere has been distributed all over the planet. Plants constantly capture CO2 from the atmosphere and release it back when decomposing or burning. On average, it takes barely 10 years for the entire amount of atmospheric CO2 to be entirely absorbed by the biosphere and rereleased back into the atmosphere. The oceans also constantly absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and release it back into...

Carbon from biomass and carbon that is recovered and synthesized directly from the atmosphere and oceans will become the future basis of the global economy. Carbon must be constantly recycled instead of mined fossil deposits. As long as biogenic and recycled carbon remains in forests, swamps, and materials such as houses, roads, batteries, cars, furniture, wind turbines, skis, and T-shirts, it will act as a temporary carbon sink. Regardless of the lifespan of a carbon sink, as long as the carbon sinks are continuously renewed and the amount of carbon in circulation remains the same, the temporary carbon sinks have the same global...

An executive summary for Global Biochar Carbon Sink certification Biochar that was produced at pyrolysis temperatures above 550°C and presenting a molar H:C ratio below 0.4 is highly persistent when applied to the soil. 75% of such biochar carbon consists of stable polycyclic aromatic carbon and will persist after soil application for more than 1000 years, independent of the soil type and climate. The remaining 25% of the biochar carbon may be considered semi-persistent, presenting a mean residence time in soil of 50 to 100 years, depending on soil type and climate. Soil-applied biochar contains thus two distinct carbon pools with...

To limit climate change to a temperature-rise of 2 °C, at least 220 billion metric tons of carbon must be sequestered in terrestrial C-sinks at the same time as drastic emission reductions are realized. Biochar and pyrolysis oil made from ramped up production of biomass could achieve one-third of this sink capacity though it would need around 400,000 industrial pyrolysis plants to be commissioned worldwide by 2050. To reach this enormous number of industrial plants in such a short time, exponential growth of pyrolysis plant production from currently about 100 plants to an annual output of more than 100,000 plants would be required...

Make carbon sink, not rise. Most of the world’s toilets are not connected to sewers but drain into septic systems or cesspools. With new smart biochar based septic designs, this human derived waste carbon could become long term carbon sinks. Refashioning our subsoil waste disposal into safe systems of carbon sequestration could open up vast new opportunities for the circular urban economy and climate action.

Densified wood is stronger and more resistant than titanium steel or carbon fiber composites. It could be used to build wind turbines, bridges, shipping containers, and even cars. Each ton of the material contains 500 kg of carbon. Since those products are made to persist, they can be viewed as carbon sinks. We need to redefine industrial production not only in regard to minimizing energy consumption but also in regard to maximizing the carbon content of all products. The carbon cycle of the planet can only be rebalanced when biomass feedstock like wood or biochar are used to produce industrial materials that store carbon for the...

A growing number of farmers use Kon-Tiki kilns to produce their own biochar on-farm. However, seeing huge amounts of thermal energy being simply lost in the flames of the Kon-Tiki, many started to think about heat recovery systems to produce hot water. An elegant solution is to use the heat of the fire to produce essential oil. Thanks to such a heat recovery, forest gardens in a Nepali village became profitable after only three years, producing biochar with pruning wood and essential cinnamon oil from cinnamon leaves.

Humanity is in need of a safety net to hold us back from free fall into climate chaos. But what might this net, or more likely nets, look like? The recent IPCC report may provide some clues. But it needs now the biochar world to partner with media producers to get the facts and stories on the big screen and make people talk about biochar in the streets.

The Australian artist, Georgina Pollard, created an extraordinary art work using biochar and plants as material and Kon-Tiki pyrolysis as a method. A beautiful material reflection on carbon as the core element of life and on random swirling of bonding and breaking down.

Biochar was included for the first time as a promising negative emission technology (NET) in the new IPCC special report published on 8th October 2018. While the special report’s overall message was alarming, the inclusion of biochar is an important milestone for mitigating climate change and fostering research on pyrogenic carbon. Since the EU is obliged to fund research in negative emission technologies due to the Paris Agreement, it can be expected that biochar research and development will start to receive more important funding in the near term. We provide here a short summary on pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS)...

An increasing number of coffee growers use biochar to improve soil fertility and resiliency, reduce dependence on fertilizers, achieve better survival rates for young plants, increase disease resistance and optimize residue management. Biochar trials in Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam are highlighted in our updated white paper on biochar in coffee cultivation systems. New peer reviewed information on how biochar can help mitigate coffee rust (roya) and other diseases is presented in addition to benefits related to soil fertility, composting, effluent filtration, renewable energy production,...

Three years after the first 10,000 forest garden trees were planted in a Nepali mountain village and were linked to a new type of private carbon trading scheme, the village received the visit of a young journalist from a national newspaper. His particular insights into the Nepali way of life and policy, make his report about this acclaimed pilot project combining organic biochar based fertilization, mixed tree garden plantation, water retenition, soil conservation, and crop value chain creation a passionate critic.

Nuts, mangos, bananas, limes, silk from mulberry leaves, essential oils, timber, animal food, perfume from tree blossoms, mulch and biochar – the products from forest gardens are diverse and possess high potential to increase rural income. However, scarcely any farming family in the tropics can afford the investment to create such productive eco systems. Connecting to the global market through CO2-certificates could serve to finance the creation of forest gardens. By doing so, local food security, protection of groundwater, fostering of ecosystems, and global climate protection would mutually reinforce each other.

Since the "55 Uses of Biochar" was presented nearly four years ago, the Ithaka Institute continues to outline and refine this expanded concept of biochar uses. The Biochar Displacement Strategy now articulates a vision for maximizing biochar use by displacing non-renewable materials. Exciting new non-agricultural biochar research from around the world paves the biochar way towards the global bio economy.