Biochar: Solution to climate crisis ?

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Scientists say the unprecedented climatic events, those not seen in generations, are due to the changing climate. But, the political leaders have not taken scenarios from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seriously, which led to embarrassment in the COP-15 in Copenhagen. Recently, another UN international climate change negotiation in Mexico was able to patch some bruises from last year. Still, they have left the most important negotiations on greenhouse gas cut-downs to be discussed in Dublin a year later.


Most of the carbon is stored in the soil and various living bodies in the world. Carbon combines with oxygen through various processes to form carbon dioxide gas. This particular gas released in the atmosphere is one of the important and overwhelmingly successful gases to cause climate change. Most of the climate solutions are also directed to reduce release of this gas to the atmosphere. Burning of fossil fuels, burning of wood, and changing landscapes too releases huge amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.



Carbon is one of the important elements present in huge amount almost everywhere, and the soil stores the largest amount. About 50% of the carbon restored by plants quickly returns to the atmosphere due to decomposition and the rest returns slowly. The balance is nearly neutral each year in the present environmental scenario. However, the amount of carbon that goes to atmosphere has increased rapidly in the past few centuries due to human activities compared to what is restored in the soil by plants. This has resulted in higher concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere causing the global climate change.


Carbon sequestration in soil is one of the potential ways of climate crisis mitigation. If we can put just as much carbon as we have released in the past few hundred years into the soil, the problem is solved. Thus, restoration of forests and grasslands, and energy efficient technologies have been proposed.


Surprisingly, the answer comes from an ancient civilization in the Amazon River basin. The climate in Amazon is so harsh for agriculture that it was not possible to think of human civilization there until recently, when huge raised areas started to appear after the forest had been cleared. Archeological studies have found that those raised areas are remains of ancient human civilization. In the Amazon, rain water continuously washes away the land rendering the soil too acidic for agricultural cultivation. That is why the Amazonians learned to develop their own soil that could support plants and provide better soil conditions to support crops. Although it is a mystery as to how they made the soil, one can see vast expanses of such land throughout the Brazilian Amazon, with soil depth up to 2 meters which is still very fertile after they were created at least 500-8700 years ago. The locals named that popular deep black fertile soil as ‘Terra Preta’.


The most important thing in the ‘Terra Preta’ is its charcoal like content. Investigation of ‘Terra Preta’ reveled that they are made up of burned household debris, wood, and grasses in low oxygenated condition to produce a form of highly condensed stable carbon compound that does not easily decompose. That means, once such carbon compound is produced and incorporated into the soil, they do not go back to the atmosphere for hundreds of years. If such carbon compounds can be produced on a large scale, it is possible to restore extra carbon that we release to the atmosphere within a short time. The carbon compound made from biomass, especially used in the agricultural field is now termed as ‘biochar’.


The study of biochar has shown that it has the highest potential for climate crisis mitigation in the long run. Energy produced while burning biomass is used and the byproduct is incorporated in the soil. The possibility of making biochar and using it in agriculture soil promises to give three extraordinary benefits. First, it directly keeps carbon for longer duration inside the soil, thus reducing carbon content in the atmosphere. Second, it improves soil organic matter content that has been depleted for so many years. Third, it improves soil structure providing better physical environment for plants and microbial growth. Even though biochar has sprung up with possibilities, sufficient research on the subject matter is necessary before it is implemented on a larger scale because once it is incorporated in the soil, it is going to be there for hundreds of years. Similarly, carbon products are now being produced all over the world and being tested for their stability in the soil, and suitability for plant production when mixed in the soil.


Let’s hope biochar will bring good news for us. The fascinating ancestral knowledge that was once nearly unknown and forgotten will help to solve the dreadful problem of our generation. This should also give a moral lesson why conservation or documentation of language, culture, tradition and history is important for safer future for our descendants.


(As published in Himalayn Times 2011-02-08 10:02 PM )