Biofuels and biomaterials are gaining attention because of their ecofriendly nature and renewable precursors. Biochar is a recalcitrant carbonaceous product obtained from pyrolysis, carbonization, torrefaction and gasification of renewable biomass and other biogenic wastes. This presentation provides insights on some of the promising applications of biochar such as waste-to-energy, reclamation of degraded soils and wastewater, carbon sequestration and manufacturing of specialty activated carbons and engineered biomaterials.

Modifying slow pyrolysis to improve the removal of contaminants from water using char

04.03.2021

Filipe Rego - Aston University, UK

Using slow pyrolysis wheat straw char to decontaminate water showed that adsorption performance comparable to commercial activated carbon can be achieved. Lower temperature char was the best performing, removing 95% of an organic dye from solution, which was connected to surface chemical functionalities. Modifications to the process (increasing feedstock moisture content, using CO2 atmosphere, or feedstock KOH-impregnation) allowed in some cases to improve adsorption performance and can potentially lead to better tailored products.

Application of biochar for soil decontamination

18.03.2021

Sara Lago Oliveira - Edafotec SL, Spain

Traditional soil remediation technologies are costly and not environmentally friendly. This webinar presents biochar as a solution for soil decontamination when mixed with tailor-made artificial soils, which is an eco-friendly solution, cost-effective and also contributes to a circular and climate neutral economy.

Biochars and engineered biochars for aqueous pharmaceuticals removal

01.04.2021

Manvendra Patel - Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Low cost adsorbents are essential for aqueous contaminants removal in developing countries. Biochars and engineered biochars provide a sustainable solution. This webinar presents the development, characterization and application of biochars. Developed biochars provide excellent sorption capacity for ciprofloxacin and acetaminophen sorption. Magnetization of biochar enhanced sorption capacity several times. Thus, biochars developed from locally available abundant waste materials can be a sustainable solution

Why biochar isn't big, and what to do now

18.03.2021

Peter Olivier - The Burning Question, USA

The founding story of biochar comprises a lot of enthusiasm about re-establishing a millenia old technology to sequester carbon in soils as illustrated by the discovery of Terra Preta in Brazil. However, a decade after the first wave of a renewed interest in biochar, the industry is still in its infancy. This talk draws a line from the early perceptions and misperceptions of biochar to current obstacles in industrialising the sector.

Bio-energy, biochar, carbon capture, with organics co-composting

01.04.2021

Robert Lavoie – Air Terra Inc., Canada

The legal dimension of biochar: an overview of the regulatory challenges and opportunities in the EU legal and policy framework

15.04.2021

Elisa Cavallin - Hasselt University, Belgium

This presentation is meant to provide some information on the legal dimension of biochar and to provide an overview of the opportunities and bottlenecks in the biochar value chain. The scope of the presentation is limited to European law and policy and to this moment in time with an outlook on the future. The presentation covers developments in policy that are relevant for the biochar value chain after the publication of the Green Deal and some documents adopted under its umbrella, in particular the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. In addition, some developments in legislation are also considered and explained, namely the new Fertilising Products Regulation and the new Organic legislation. Finally, some bottlenecks are described, i.a. with regards to the waste and the chemicals legislation, and some potential opportunities are highlighted."

Biochar produced from wood waste for soil remediation in Sweden: carbon sequestration and other environmental impacts

15.04.2021

Asterios Papageorgiou – KTH Stockholm, Sweden

The use of biochar to stabilize soil contaminants is emerging as a technique for remediation of contaminated soils. This presentation describes the findings from an environmental assessment of systems where biochar produced from wood waste with energy recovery is used for remediation of soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metal(loid)s in Sweden. The assessment combined material and energy flow analysis, life cycle assessment, and substance flow analysis

Rice husk biochar: An ecological solution to remove metals from water

29.04.2021

Frank Brigano - Glanris Water Systems Inc., USA

Glanris rice husk biochar is a designer or hybrid media that can remove organic and inorganic contaminants, e.g., heavy metals, from the water environment. Produced from agricultural waste using a patented process, the Glanris media sequesters carbon preventing the carbon from impacting the climate plus has been demonstrated to remove a variety of heavy metals from water, retaining metal removal function in the presence of light oils, as well as removing organic contaminants. This presentation gives an overview of the impact of rice husk waste on the climate, charring technology, laboratory and field data showing the efficaciousness of the Glanris rice husk biochar plus potential media applications.

A critical review on silver nanoparticles: From synthesis and applications to its mitigation through low-cost adsorption by biochar

29.04.2021

Anwarul Islam – James Cook University, Australia

Silver nanoparticles are one of the most beneficial forms of heavy metals in nanotechnology applications. Due to its exceptional antimicrobial properties, low electrical and thermal resistance, they are used in a wide variety of products, including consumer goods, healthcare, and electronics. When released into the environment the same antimicrobial properties can present toxic consequences, making it crucial to remove silver nanoparticles from wastewater. Several
removal technologies are available, but adsorption on low-cost materials such as biochar might be the most promising way forward.

Biochar from Waste - Practical Considerations

06.05.2021

Richard Jackson - Standard Gas Ltd., UK

Much work has been done on suitable sequestration pathways for biochar that is derived from 100% plant origins with many accepted methodologies that allow producers to benefit financially through carbon removal credits. Here I look at why the market for this type of biochar has remained small as the feedstock often has to be paid for so the overall process is uneconomic. A way forward lies in developing uses for the biogenic fraction of char from the pyrolysis of household waste where the economics are much more favourable but this requires more work to be done on developing pathways for sequestering that char as it is unsuitable for topical land use.

Life cycle assessment of 6 urban applications of biochar

20.05.2021

Elias Sebastian Azzi - KTH Stockholm, Sweden

In Sweden, biochar market development is mainly driven by use in urban applications like tree planting, green roofs, and landscaping soil. New applications for water treatment and concrete are also being developed. We had two research questions: i) what is the environmental performance of biochar products compared to current products? and, ii) how much biochar do we need in a city? We performed life cycle assessments and material flow analysis applied to the case of Uppsala, Sweden. Biochar products tend to perform better when they replace other problematic materials with high impacts, but environmental trade-offs also exists.

A review of pyrolysis and biochar as climate-positive biomass technologies for the Scottish Uplands

20.05.2021

Joshua Msika - The James Huttom Institute, UK

This presentation covers the results of a literature review into the potential of on-farm pyrolysis/biochar in the Scottish upland context. I cover biochar’s likely climate effects, its agricultural applications and the technical challenges of implementing pyrolysis and biochar on a farm. I conclude that if these challenges can be overcome, the most climate-positive application in the Scottish Uplands would appear to be biochar from forestry wastes, pyrolyzed to optimise for high carbon stability and high heat production and applied to cool, acidic soils in order to boost tree or grass growth after having been co-composted with livestock manures.

Four Connected Biochar Topics about RoCC Kilns, a Kenya Project, the CERCS™ App Ecosystem with CharTrac™ and Financing via Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)

22.07.2021

Paul Anderson, James Schoner and Gilbert Mwangi

The four topics are 1) production technology via RoCC Kilns,
2) an operational biochar project in Kenya Project (plus other places),
3) measurement and reporting via the CERCS™ App Ecosystem with CharTrac™ and
4) aspects regarding Financing via Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).
With 55 slides, this is a good overview and integration of these diverse but interconnected topics.
The video as well as the slides without video can be found at https://woodgas.com/resources .

Potential and limitations for using biochar and activated carbons for sorbing ionic and polar organic compounds

05.08.2021

Gabriel Sigmund - University of Vienna, Austria

Gabriel Sigmund from the University of Vienna in this presentation explains how neutral, polar, and ionic organic contaminants sorb to biochar and activated carbon. Potentials and limitation of their use for contaminant removal are also discussed

Biochar tailoring for catalytic applications

05.08.2021

Mattia Bartoli - Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Biochar is among the most intriguing support for the
production of heterogeneous catalysts. We report the major
outcomes of Carbon group for the production of biochar
based catalytic materials.

Biochar and Hydrochar from Algae

16.09.2021

Farid Safari - University of Ontario, Canada

Biochar and hydrochar are produced from conversion of biomass in non-aqueous and aqueous media, respectively. Biochar and hydrochr from algae have unique properties such as high surface area (porous structure) and richness in alkaline and alkaline earth metals. Biochar and hydrochar from algae can be used as catalyst/support and as electrode material for electrochemical applications.

Biochar Enriched Products and Capacity Building for Social Enterprise Development

16.09.2021

Palsan Sannasi Abdullah - Universiti of Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia

This project highlights agro waste utilization and conversion, product development of biochar enriched planting media mix, its production with community engagement, and the successful inception of Team BioArang Jeli. Transforming and empowering the community, not by means of continuous assistance but by adopting a social enterprise model, to help themselves, and help others, themselves, while caring for the environment.

Nutrients Enriched Biochar: Status, Scope and Challenges

24.02.2022

Manish Kumar - CSIR, India

Many practical issues of use and productivity of Rotatable Covered Cavity (RoCC) kilns are presented in the context of efforts since mid-2021 in Bungoma County, Kenya, the first location with a sustained effort. The video as well as the 40 slide presentation without video can be found at https://woodgas.com/resources .

Biochar Enriched Products and Capacity Building for Social Enterprise Development

24.02.2022

Paul Anderson - Woodgas Pyrolytics Inc., USA & Gilbert Mwangi

Molecular modelling of biochars

10.03.2022

Rosie Wood - University of Edinburgh, UK

Molecular modelling is a useful tool to study biochars in a systematic and reproducible manner. However, at present, molecular modelling of biochars is a complex task due to the lack of freely available models in literature. In this presentation, Rosie Wood discusses her work on the development of molecular models representative of woody biochars produced a low (400ºC), medium (600ºC) and high (800ºC) highest treatment temperatures. For each biochar-type, a model of the bulk and a model with exposed surfaces has been constructed. All will soon be made freely available via GitHub (https://github.com/Erastova-group/biochar_models) and can be used in a wide range of molecular modelling based studies of biochars.

Biochar use for anaerobic digestion

24.03.2022

Jan Mumme - Carbogenics, UK

The use of biochar in anaerobic digestion is a promising area with direct economic benefits. Biochars have the ability to increase AD health and optimise the fermentation process, resulting in increased and stable performance of biogas production. Carbogenics, an Edinburgh based spinout company, presents their experience in industrial trials using biochar.

Biochar applications for energy storage systems

24.03.2022

Mattia Bartoli, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Carbon materials and energy storage are a rapidly expanding research area. Here, the use of biochar in batteries is discussed with an example made from cotton fibres. Additionally, the latest results for the use of tea waste biochar in a fuel cell are presented. A special focus is placed on the possibility to alter biochars properties using different production parameters, such as a CO2 atmosphere or the addition of urea prior to pyrolysis.

Scaling up biochar production: what choices to make?

07.04.2022

Rianne de Visser - TNO, Netherlands

Large scale biochar production or co-production is still scarce today. In this talk, experiences of 10 years of reactor design and testing are summarised to show advantages and disadvantages of several reactor types. The economics of a moving grate reactor, the ENERCHAR concept, are discussed in detail, to showcase the competitiveness of biochar production to replace peat substrate in agricultural settings.

Activated carbon production from biomass and its applications

07.04.2022

Anil Kumar Sakhiya - IIT Delhi, India

Raw biochar has limited applicability due to its lower surface area, starved porosity, and sparse surface functional groups. Hence, physical and chemical activation of biochar is often performed to enhance the surface chemistry and properties. In this talk, steam activation and chemical activation using potassium acetate are compared in terms of economic and environmental performance.

Panel discussion: European biochar market development

21.04.2022

Harald Bier - European Biochar Industry Consortium

Ueli Steiner - Carbon Standards International

Berta Moya - Carbonfuture

Marcel Huber - Syncraft

Four of the main players in the European Biochar Market present their views about the current market development, its future path and potential risks of the exponential growth of the market.