Biochar Archives - Anaxee Digital Runners

A Buyer’s Guide to Biochar Carbon Credits: Making Smarter Choices

Introduction: Why Biochar Carbon Credits Are in the Spotlight

If you are a company, investor, or sustainability officer thinking about how to reach net zero, you’ve probably come across the term biochar carbon credits. Biochar projects are attracting attention because they combine two powerful benefits: durable carbon removal and co-benefits for soil, agriculture, and local communities.

Unlike many traditional offsets that simply avoid emissions, biochar locks carbon into a stable form for hundreds of years through pyrolysis. The resulting carbon is stored in solid form, often used to improve soil fertility or even replace polluting products.

But here’s the catch: not all biochar projects are the same. The voluntary carbon market is still evolving, and buyers often face challenges like inconsistent quality, limited supply, and complex risk factors. Making the right decision requires a framework — and that’s where CEEZER’s 5-step approach comes in handy.

Infographic showing CEEZER’s 5-step framework for biochar carbon credit procurement: define priorities, select project characteristics, build portfolio, optimize procurement, and leverage technology, displayed over a background of biochar pieces.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through:

Defining your priorities as a carbon credit buyer
Selecting project characteristics that fit your goals
Building a diversified biochar portfolio
Optimizing your procurement strategy
Leveraging technology for transparency and impact

By the end, you’ll have a roadmap to buy biochar carbon credits with confidence, while ensuring your investments align with long-term carbon credit procurement strategy and net zero commitments.

Step 1: Define Your Priorities

Every company has unique sustainability goals. Before you start scouting projects, pause and ask: What does success look like for your organization?

Possible Buyer Priorities:

-Durability of Removal: Is your priority long-term storage (100+ years)? Biochar offers strong permanence compared to nature-based solutions like afforestation.

-Scalability: Do you need large volumes now, or are you comfortable with smaller, growing projects that can scale over time?

-Co-Benefits: Do you want your credits to also support farmers, rural employment, or degraded land restoration?

-Cost Efficiency: Are you under pressure to optimize budgets and buy affordable credits, or do you want to invest in premium, high-integrity projects?

-Geographic Relevance: Do you want local projects (for community storytelling) or global sourcing for better supply diversification?

👉 Example: A food and beverage company sourcing crops from India might prioritize biochar credits generated locally, since they directly improve farmer livelihoods and soil quality in the supply chain.

Step 2: Select the Right Project Characteristics

Not all biochar projects are created equal. Once your priorities are clear, evaluate project characteristics.

Key Factors to Assess:

Feedstock Type

-Agricultural residues, forestry waste, or urban biomass.

-Risk: Unsustainable sourcing could undermine climate impact.
Pyrolysis Technology
-Small-scale kilns vs. industrial units.

-Advanced units improve carbon yield and reduce methane leaks.
Carbon Removal Permanence
-Biochar generally locks carbon for 100–1000 years.

-Check certification standards like Puro.earth or Verra for validation.
Co-Benefits
-Soil health, crop productivity, reduced fertilizer use.

-Community jobs and local entrepreneurship.
Verification & Certification
-Choose projects with third-party MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification).

-Certification ensures credibility.

Step 3: Build a Diversified Biochar Portfolio

Just like financial investments, diversification reduces risk. Instead of relying on a single project, build a portfolio that balances cost, risk, and impact.

Why Diversification Matters:

-Supply risks: Projects may under-deliver on promised volumes.

-Technology risks: Early-stage pyrolysis units may face breakdowns.

-Market risks: Prices fluctuate as supply-demand evolves.

Portfolio Approach:

-Mix of geographies: India, Africa, Europe.

-Mix of project sizes: Established industrial plants + emerging farmer-led models.

-Mix of co-benefits: Some focused on soil, others on renewable energy co-products.

👉 Example Portfolio:

-40% credits from large-scale European biochar producers (high certainty).

-40% from farmer-led Indian agroforestry biochar projects (community co-benefits).

-20% from experimental urban biomass-to-biochar pilots (innovation exposure).

Step 4: Optimize Your Procurement Strategy

Now that you know what to buy, it’s time to think about how you buy. Procurement strategies can make or break your impact.

Approaches to Procurement:

Spot Buying
-One-off purchase when credits are available.

-Pros: Flexibility.

-Cons: Higher prices, supply uncertainty.
Forward Contracts
-Buy credits from future vintages (1–5 years ahead).

– Pros: Price security, supports project financing.

– Cons: Delivery risks.
Blended Procurement
– Mix spot and forward to balance risks.
Partnerships & Direct Investments
-Collaborate with project developers.

– Secure long-term supply and shape project design.

👉 Tip: Many buyers combine 30–40% spot purchases with forward agreements for stability.

Step 5: Leverage Technology for Transparency and Impact

One of the biggest challenges in carbon markets is trust. Buyers want to know:

-Are the credits real?

-Is the carbon truly stored?

-Are communities benefiting?

This is where technology-driven MRV becomes essential.

How Tech Helps in Biochar Projects:

-Geo-tagging: Each biochar application site can be mapped.

-Digital Runners & Field Data Collection: Platforms like Anaxee ensure on-ground monitoring at scale.

-Satellite Imagery: Verifies land use change and soil impact.

-Blockchain or Registry Tech: Tracks credits transparently to prevent double-counting.

Managing Risks in Biochar Carbon Credits

No guide is complete without risk management. Buyers should be aware of:

-Permanence Risk: Though durable, improper application/storage could degrade biochar.

-Methodology Risk: Inconsistent standards across registries.

-Market Risk: Price volatility as biochar supply scales.

-Delivery Risk: Small projects may fail to deliver promised volumes.

👉 Mitigation Tip: Diversify, choose verified projects, and maintain ongoing monitoring.

Conclusion: Smarter Choices for Net Zero

Buying biochar carbon credits is not just a compliance move — it’s a strategic decision that can:

-Lock away carbon for centuries

-Improve soil health and agricultural resilience

-Support rural livelihoods

-Strengthen your net zero strategy

By following CEEZER’s 5-step framework — define priorities, select project characteristics, diversify your portfolio, optimize procurement, and leverage technology — buyers can make informed, resilient, and impactful choices.

As demand for high-quality carbon removals grows, those who build smart procurement strategies today will lead the way tomorrow.

About Anaxee:

Anaxee drives large-scale, country-wide Climate and Carbon Credit projects across India. We specialize in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and community-driven initiatives, providing the technology and on-ground network needed to execute, monitor, and ensure transparency in projects like agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, improved cookstoves, solar devices, water filters and more. Our systems are designed to maintain integrity and verifiable impact in carbon methodologies.

Person feeding agricultural residues into a pyrolysis unit for biochar production in an outdoor field setup.

Beyond climate, Anaxee is India’s Reach Engine- building the nation’s largest last-mile outreach network of 100,000 Digital Runners (shared, tech-enabled field force). We help corporates, agri-focused companies, and social organizations scale to rural and semi-urban India by executing projects in 26 states, 540+ districts, and 11,000+ pin codes, ensuring both scale and 100% transparency in last-mile operations.

Partner with Anaxee for your Net ZERO goals! Connect at sales@anaxee.com

Risks in Biochar Projects and How to Manage Them

Introduction

The global carbon market is placing increasing trust in biochar as one of the most promising tools for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). In 2023–2024, biochar accounted for more than 90% of all durable carbon removal deliveries in the voluntary carbon market.

But like any climate solution, biochar is not without risks. Critics often ask: Is the carbon really locked away? What if projects exaggerate? Can small kilns in rural areas be trusted to deliver verified credits?

These are important questions. A strong carbon market needs credibility, transparency, and risk management. This blog explores the main risks in biochar projects — and how innovators, developers, and standards are addressing them.

1. Non-Additionality Risk

What it means:
For a project to generate carbon credits, it must prove that it would not have happened without carbon finance. If the activity is “business as usual,” then credits are not additional.

How it applies to biochar:

-If a farmer already makes biochar for soil improvement without carbon finance, issuing credits for the same activity risks double counting.

-Large industrial biomass users might switch to biochar anyway due to regulation or cost advantages, raising questions about additionality.

How to manage:

-Rely on clear baseline studies to show the biomass would have otherwise decomposed or been burned.

-Require third-party verification at project registration.

-Standards like Verra VM0044 and Puro.earth mandate strict baseline documentation.

2. Reversal Risk

What it means:
Carbon stored today could be released tomorrow. In forestry projects, this often happens when trees burn or are cut down.

Why biochar is stronger:
Biochar is much more chemically stable than biomass. Its carbon structures resist microbial decay, with lifespans of hundreds to thousands of years.

But risks still exist:

-Poorly made biochar (low pyrolysis temperatures, high volatile matter) may degrade faster.

-Fire in storage sites could destroy stockpiled biochar before application.

-Incorrect use in soils may reduce permanence.

How to manage:

-Follow strict pyrolysis quality guidelines (high-temperature production).

-Apply biochar quickly to soils or construction materials instead of stockpiling.

-Conduct lab tests on stability indicators like the H/C ratio.

-Use buffer pools (extra credits held in reserve) as insurance.

3. Over-Crediting Risk

What it means:
Projects may issue more credits than the actual carbon removed.

Causes in biochar:

-Misreporting feedstock origin (using biomass that would not have released CO₂ anyway).

-Inflated assumptions about carbon stability.

-Errors in mass-balance calculations of biomass in vs. biochar out.

How to manage:

-Registries require conservative factors in calculations.

-Third-party auditors must validate data before credits are issued.

-Digital MRV tools (like Planboo’s mobile MRV) ensure field-level traceability.

4. Leakage Risk

What it means:
A project reduces emissions in one place but causes an increase elsewhere.

Examples in biochar:

-Diverting crop residues from animal fodder to pyrolysis could force farmers to use alternative feed with its own emissions.

-Using wood that would otherwise have been used in local industries.

How to manage:

-Allow only true waste biomass as feedstock.

-Conduct surveys of local uses of residues.

-Require projects to show that no alternative market is disrupted.

5. Negative Social or Environmental Impacts

Concerns:

-Low-tech kilns may release methane or smoke, harming local air quality.

-If biochar demand drives biomass plantations, it could compete with food or forests.

-Communities may not benefit if projects are highly centralized.

Solutions:

-Train operators in clean pyrolysis techniques.

-Adopt artisanal methodologies (like CSI Artisan) that focus on smallholder inclusion.

-Monitor co-benefits: jobs created, crop yield increases, gender participation.

Case Study:

-Varaha and IIT Bombay studied methane risks in poorly run pyrolysis. Findings led to improved kiln design.

-Carboneers in Ghana provide 500% income boosts for women by involving them in small-scale biochar projects.

6. Delivery Risk

What it means:
The project promises credits but fails to deliver on time.

Why it happens:

-Feedstock shortages due to crop failure.

-Technical problems in reactors.

-Over-ambitious targets.

How to manage:

-Diversify feedstock sources.

-Use modular reactors for flexibility.

-Sign smaller offtake contracts at the start, then scale.

-Build partnerships with farmer networks (like Anaxee’s Digital Runner network) for reliable biomass supply.

7. Reputation and Market Risks

Concerns:

-Negative media coverage about “low-quality credits” can affect all biochar projects, even good ones.

-Buyers are cautious after controversies in REDD+ and cookstove credits.

Solutions:

-Radical transparency in project reporting.

-Use digital dashboards for buyers to track biochar production in near real-time.

-Third-party endorsements from scientific bodies.

8. How Standards and Innovation Reduce Risks

The good news is that biochar risks are manageable — and are already being managed.

-Standards (Verra, Puro, Isometric, CSI) provide strict guardrails.

-Innovation (digital MRV, blockchain tracking, IoT-enabled kilns) increases trust.

-Community-first models ensure social acceptance and equitable benefit-sharing.

Together, these approaches make biochar one of the lowest-risk removal credits compared to other methods like forestry or enhanced weathering.

Conclusion

Biochar is not risk-free, but its risks are identifiable, manageable, and often lower than other carbon removal pathways.

-Non-additionality is solved with clear baselines.

-Reversal risk is minimized through stable chemistry.

-Over-crediting is prevented by conservative methodologies.

-Leakage is reduced by strict feedstock rules.

-Delivery is secured through diversified networks.

For investors, corporates, and communities, this means biochar credits can be a trusted part of net zero strategies. The key lies in good governance, transparent MRV, and community-centered implementation.

In short: biochar projects succeed when risks are acknowledged, measured, and managed — not ignored.

About Anaxee:

How Biochar Carbon Credits Work: From Production to Certification

Introduction

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is evolving fast. While many carbon credits in the past came from avoided emissions (like renewable energy or cookstoves), there is a growing demand for removal credits — those that physically pull CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it.

Among these, biochar carbon credits are attracting attention. They are not only based on a proven carbon removal process but also come with practical co-benefits for farmers, industries, and ecosystems.

But how do biochar carbon credits actually work? How does a pile of crop residues transformed into black charcoal-like material become a verified carbon credit on a global registry? Let’s break down the journey step by step.

1. Why Biochar Earns Carbon Credits

Carbon credits represent either avoided emissions (preventing CO₂ from being released) or carbon removals (taking CO₂ out of the air). Biochar falls firmly into the second category.

-Plants absorb CO₂ as they grow.

-Normally, crop residues or forestry waste would decompose or burn, releasing CO₂ back into the air.

-When converted into biochar through pyrolysis, up to 50% of that carbon is locked away in a durable form.

-This stability means the carbon will stay stored for hundreds to thousands of years, qualifying as a long-term carbon removal.

This is why registries like Verra and Puro.earth accept biochar as a valid removal method — it provides additionality, durability, and measurability, which are the backbone of credible carbon credits.

2. From Pyrolysis to Credits: The Lifecycle

The journey of a biochar carbon credit can be broken into stages:

🌾 Feedstock Collection

Collected wood and crop residues as feedstock for biochar production, ready for pyrolysis.

Farmers and industries provide biomass residues — rice husks, maize stalks, sawdust, manure, etc. The project documents where this feedstock comes from and ensures it is sustainably sourced.

🔥 Pyrolysis and Production

Biomass is heated in a low-oxygen reactor, producing biochar, syngas, and bio-oil. Carbon accounting focuses on the mass and quality of biochar produced.

📦 Application & Storage

Biochar must be stored in a way that prevents decomposition — usually by applying it to soils, embedding it in construction materials, or using it in waste/water treatment.

📊 Monitoring, Reporting, Verification (MRV)

An Anaxee field worker photographs a ground-mounted solar panel array in a lush farm, documenting a solar-agriculture pilot in rural India.

Data is collected on feedstock types, reactor efficiency, biochar yield, and final application. Independent auditors verify this data.

🏦 Certification & Issuance

Registries like Verra, Puro.earth, Isometric, or Carbon Standards International (CSI) certify the credits after audit. One credit = one ton of CO₂e durably removed.

💰 Trading in Carbon Market

Once certified, credits are listed on registries and sold to corporates, investors, or governments seeking to offset emissions or meet net zero goals.

3. Methodologies for Biochar Carbon Credits

The credibility of a carbon credit depends on the methodology used. For biochar, major standards include:

– Verra VM0044 (Biochar Utilization Methodology)

- Focus on lifecycle accounting and conservative assumptions.
- Popular with global projects, including smallholders.

– Puro.earth Biochar Standard

- First dedicated standard for biochar.
- Emphasizes permanence and robust accounting.

– Isometric Biochar Methodology

- Focuses on high scientific rigor and open-data approach.

– CSI Artisan & Global Biochar C-Sink

- Targets smaller artisanal kilns and projects in the Global South.

Each methodology sets rules on eligible feedstocks, pyrolysis conditions, stability testing, and MRV requirements. Projects must follow these closely to gain certification.

4. The Role of MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification)

MRV is the backbone of credit credibility. Without it, buyers will not trust the climate impact.

Monitoring Tools

-Mass balance: Measuring weight of biomass in vs. biochar out.

-Lab tests: Assessing biochar stability (carbon content, H/C ratio).

-Digital MRV (dMRV): Satellite data, mobile apps, IoT devices, and blockchain used for field tracking (e.g., Planboo’s mobile dMRV system in Africa).

Verification

Independent third-party auditors check project claims and calculations.

Reporting

Data must be submitted regularly to the registry for transparency.

This makes MRV both a cost factor and a trust factor in biochar projects.

5. Risks and Integrity Concerns

While biochar credits are promising, they are not risk-free. Common concerns include:

-Non-additionality: Was the biochar project truly enabled by carbon finance, or would it have happened anyway?

-Reversal Risk: Could biochar degrade or burn, releasing carbon? (Low risk, but still considered.)

-Over-crediting: Incorrect assumptions about stability or carbon content.

-Leakage: Diverting feedstock from other uses (like animal fodder).

-Delivery Risk: Project fails to meet promised volumes.

Strong methodologies, conservative crediting, and MRV help address these risks.

6. Economics of Biochar Credits

Biochar credits are currently priced higher than most other credits because:

-They are removals, not avoidance.

-They have durability (100+ years).

-They deliver co-benefits.

Typical price range: $100–$250 per ton CO₂e (depending on region, technology, and buyer demand).

However, a gap remains: suppliers often need $180/ton to break even, while buyers sometimes push for $130–150/ton. Long-term offtake agreements and corporate buyers with strong ESG goals are helping close this gap.

7. Who Buys Biochar Credits?

-Corporates with Net Zero Targets (e.g., Microsoft, Shopify, Stripe).

-Investors & Climate Funds looking for credible removals.

-CSR Programs in agriculture and sustainability.

-Governments & Development Banks supporting Global South projects.

Notably, biochar accounted for 90%+ of durable removals delivered in 2023–24 — showing its dominance in the market.

8. The Global South Advantage

Biochar projects in India, Africa, and Latin America are gaining traction because they:

-Use abundant agricultural residues.

-Generate local jobs and farmer income.

-Contribute to climate adaptation (better soils, water retention).

-Attract buyers interested in social impact + carbon removal.

This makes them more competitive in the carbon market compared to purely tech-heavy CDR approaches.

Conclusion

Biochar carbon credits represent one of the clearest, most credible pathways for scaling durable carbon removals today.

From feedstock sourcing to pyrolysis, from MRV to registry certification, the process ensures that every credit sold reflects real, additional, and permanent carbon removal.

For buyers, biochar credits provide not just climate benefits but also social and ecological co-benefits. For producers, they open up new revenue streams that can make rural economies stronger and more climate-resilient.

In short, biochar credits are more than just offsets. They are part of a bigger climate and development solution, connecting waste, technology, and carbon markets into one powerful system.

About Anaxee:

Want to know how we do this step-by-step? or need help with the implementation work, Connect with our Climate team at sales@anaxee.com

The Biochar Value Chain: From Waste Biomass to Climate Solutions

The Biochar Value Chain: From Waste to Climate Solution

Introduction

When people talk about carbon removal, the conversation often focuses on futuristic machines or billion-dollar projects. But one of the most effective tools is already around us: biochar.

What makes biochar special is not only its ability to store carbon for centuries but also the way it connects farmers, industries, and local communities in a chain that turns waste into value. This “biochar value chain” starts with biomass residues and ends with climate benefits, soil improvement, and new income streams.

In this blog, we’ll unpack the biochar value chain step by step — from feedstock to pyrolysis to applications — and show why it is becoming one of the most scalable climate solutions of our time.

1. Understanding the Biochar Value Chain

At its core, the biochar value chain links together:

Feedstock sourcing – agricultural residues, forestry waste, animal manure, food processing leftovers.
Conversion process – mainly pyrolysis, which transforms biomass into biochar plus co-products.
Applications – biochar used in soils, construction, water purification, animal feed, and more.
Carbon finance – projects earn carbon credits for the carbon they lock away.

This chain is flexible. In some places, it is small-scale, community-driven with simple kilns. In others, it is highly industrial, producing thousands of tons annually.

2. Feedstock: Turning Waste into Opportunity

Biochar projects begin with feedstock — the raw biomass. Not all feedstock is equal, and sustainability is crucial.

🌾 Types of Feedstock

-Agricultural residues: rice husks, maize stalks, sugarcane bagasse.

-Forestry residues: wood chips, sawdust, pruning waste.

-Animal waste: manure, poultry litter.

-Food processing residues: shells, husks, fruit pits.

-Other waste streams: sewage sludge, organic municipal waste.

♻️ Why Feedstock Matters

-If biochar is made from waste biomass, it creates a double benefit: preventing methane emissions from open decomposition while locking carbon.

-If made from purpose-grown crops, it risks competing with food production or land use. That’s why most high-quality projects stick to true waste materials.

🌍 Sustainability Concerns

Feedstock must be traceable, free from contaminants, and not diverted from other uses (like animal fodder or energy). Good projects document every stage of sourcing.

3. Pyrolysis: The Heart of Biochar Production

Once feedstock is collected, it undergoes pyrolysis. This is where the real transformation happens.

🔥 What is Pyrolysis?

A thermochemical process that heats biomass at 500–700°C in a low-oxygen environment. The result is:

-Biochar (solid carbon)

-Bio-oil (liquid fuel)

-Syngas/biogas (usable gas energy)

-Heat and electricity (in advanced systems)

🛠️ Types of Pyrolysis Technologies

-Low-tech / artisanal kilns (like Kon-Tiki kilns, soil pits, micro-gasifier stoves).

- ✅ Advantages: Cheap, accessible, creates rural jobs.
- ❌ Challenges: Lower efficiency, harder to measure methane emissions.

-High-tech / industrial pyrolysis (fixed-bed, rotary kilns, auger reactors).

- ✅ Advantages: High efficiency, precise monitoring, by-product utilization.
- ❌ Challenges: Requires big investment and stable feedstock supply.

⚖️ Striking a Balance

Some mid-tech systems blend artisanal and industrial methods, offering flexibility without huge infrastructure costs. This makes pyrolysis adaptable across geographies.

4. The Variety of Biochar Applications

The end use of biochar is where the value chain becomes diverse and exciting. Unlike other carbon removal technologies that only store carbon, biochar has multiple functional uses.

🌱 Agriculture

-Improves soil fertility, crop yields, and water retention.

-Reduces fertilizer demand.

💧 Water & Waste

-Filters heavy metals and pollutants.

-Used in wastewater treatment.

-Helps with mine remediation and erosion control.

🏗️ Construction & Industry

-Strengthens concrete and asphalt.

-Provides insulation and reduces cement demand.

🐄 Livestock & Food Chain

-Added to animal feed to improve digestion and reduce methane emissions.

-Used in food packaging as a safe additive.

🌍 Circular Economy

Every application adds new revenue streams. For example, selling biochar for soil amendments creates local markets, while industrial applications attract global buyers.

5. By-Products: Beyond Biochar

Biochar production doesn’t stop at the solid product. Depending on the technology, valuable co-products emerge:

-Syngas and heat for electricity or cooking.

-Bio-oil as a renewable fuel.

-Wood vinegar and other chemicals for agriculture.

In some cases, these co-products can make the entire operation self-sustaining — even powering the pyrolysis plant itself.

6. Adding Carbon Finance to the Chain

The big game-changer for the biochar value chain is the voluntary carbon market. By proving that carbon is locked away permanently, projects can issue carbon credits.

📜 Registries and Methodologies

-Verra (VM0044 Biochar Utilization)

-Puro.earth (Biochar Standard)

-Isometric

-CSI Artisan & Global Biochar C-Sink

These methodologies set strict rules: feedstock eligibility, production monitoring, end-use verification. Buyers pay for the carbon removal value of biochar, often at higher prices than typical avoidance credits.

7. Socio-Economic Impact of the Biochar Chain

For many regions in the Global South, biochar is not just about climate — it is about livelihoods.

-Creates rural jobs in biomass collection and pyrolysis.

-Provides farmers with affordable soil amendments.

-Brings women and marginalized groups into production networks.

-Supports community resilience against climate shocks.

Case studies (like Carboneers in India, Ghana, and Nepal) show how biochar projects can increase household incomes by 500% or more while delivering verified climate impact.

8. Challenges in the Value Chain

Like any system, the biochar chain faces hurdles:

-Supply chain risks – securing consistent feedstock.

-Monitoring issues – especially in decentralized artisanal projects.

-Market mismatch – suppliers need $180/ton, buyers want $130/ton.

-Awareness gap – many industries and policymakers still underestimate biochar’s potential.

Solutions include stronger digital MRV tools, cooperative models for smallholders, and long-term offtake contracts that give producers stability.

9. Why the Biochar Value Chain Matters

Unlike other CDR methods that rely solely on technology, the biochar value chain:

-Links waste to value.

-Combines climate action with economic development.

-Offers co-benefits across food, water, and energy.

-Is scalable now, not decades from now.

This makes it one of the most practical pathways to combine carbon removal with sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Conclusion

The biochar value chain is more than a process. It is a system of connections — from farmers managing crop residues, to engineers running pyrolysis reactors, to buyers of carbon credits, and communities benefiting from healthier soils and new incomes.

At every stage, biochar delivers multiple wins: locking carbon, improving ecosystems, generating jobs, and creating renewable by-products.

As the world looks for scalable, durable carbon removal strategies, the biochar value chain shows that solutions can be both high-impact and accessible.

In short: biochar doesn’t just remove carbon. It transforms waste into opportunity and connects climate goals with human well-being.

About Anaxee:

Ready to collaborate on your next Climate or Carbon project?

Email us at: sales@anaxee.com

Biochar and the Future of Carbon Removal: A Practical Guide

Introduction

The world today faces an undeniable truth: cutting emissions alone will not be enough to achieve net-zero. Alongside reducing greenhouse gases, we must also find ways to remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) that is already in the atmosphere. Scientists call these solutions carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

Among the different approaches being explored, biochar has gained attention as one of the most practical, affordable, and scalable tools available today. It is not a futuristic technology that exists only in labs. Instead, it is something both ancient and modern — a material humans have used for centuries but now refined for climate action.

This blog will unpack what biochar is, how it helps remove carbon, its benefits beyond climate, and why it may play a central role in the future of carbon removal.

1. What is Biochar?

At its simplest, biochar is a charcoal-like material made by heating organic matter such as crop residues, forestry waste, or animal manure in the absence (or near-absence) of oxygen. This process, known as pyrolysis, prevents the biomass from decomposing fully and releasing its carbon back into the atmosphere as CO₂.

Instead, the carbon is locked into a stable form that can last for hundreds or even thousands of years. This means biochar is essentially a durable carbon sink — once created and stored in soils or other applications, the carbon remains captured rather than re-emitted.

Think of biochar as “bottling up carbon” that plants once absorbed from the atmosphere and storing it in a form that nature cannot easily break down.

2. Breaking the Carbon Cycle

To understand biochar’s importance, we need to look at the natural carbon cycle. Normally, plants absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. When the plant dies, microbes decompose it, and most of that stored carbon goes back into the air. In fact, studies suggest about 99% of carbon in plant biomass returns to the atmosphere during decomposition.

Biochar interrupts this cycle. By converting plant matter into a stable solid before decomposition, around 50% of the carbon remains captured. This locked carbon can stay sequestered for centuries or even millennia depending on conditions like soil temperature, feedstock type, and pyrolysis settings.

This durability is what makes biochar different from tree planting or other short-lived carbon sinks. Trees store carbon as long as they are alive — but drought, fire, or disease can release it back quickly. Biochar, on the other hand, resists decay.

3. The Science of Pyrolysis

The production of biochar through pyrolysis involves heating organic materials at high temperatures (usually 500°C–700°C) with little oxygen present. Under these conditions:

-Volatile gases are released (which can be captured and used as energy).

-Bio-oil is produced as another by-product.

-A solid carbon-rich structure, biochar, is left behind.

What makes biochar unique is the aromatic carbon rings that form during pyrolysis. These structures are chemically stable and resist microbial degradation. That is why biochar remains in soils for so long without breaking down.

Depending on the reactor design, pyrolysis can also create co-benefits:

-Biogas and syngas for renewable energy.

-Bio-oil for industrial use.

-Heat and electricity for local applications.

This combination of carbon storage and useful by-products makes biochar both an environmental and economic opportunity.

4. Benefits Beyond Carbon Storage

Most people first hear about biochar in the context of climate change. But its potential goes much further. Biochar is often described as a multi-benefit solution, because apart from storing carbon, it helps with:

🌱 Soil Health

-Improves water retention in dry regions.

-Enhances nutrient availability for crops.

-Creates micro-habitats for beneficial soil microbes.

-Increases average crop yields by 9–16% according to research.

💧 Water Purification

-Biochar’s porous structure allows it to absorb pollutants and toxins.

-Can be used in bioremediation of contaminated soils and waters.

🏗️ Construction and Industry

-Mixed with concrete, biochar can reduce cement use and increase durability.

-Works as a lightweight, strong additive for building materials.

🐄 Animal and Agricultural Uses

-In small amounts, biochar can be used in animal feed to improve digestion.

-It also helps reduce methane emissions from livestock waste.

These benefits make biochar appealing not only to carbon markets but also to farmers, industries, and local communities.

5. Global Potential of Biochar

So, how big can biochar really be? Research suggests biochar could remove up to 6% of annual global emissions if produced and applied at scale. That is massive, considering how few other CDR technologies can claim such readiness.

-Countries with high potential: China, Brazil, and the United States due to their large agricultural residues.

-Readiness level: Biochar is at Technology Readiness Level 8 (TRL-8), meaning it is already proven at commercial scale.

-Accessibility: Unlike direct air capture (DAC), which requires huge investments, biochar can be done with relatively simple setups — even rural farmers can produce it using local kilns.

This mix of scalability, affordability, and co-benefits is why many experts see biochar as the leading near-term solution for durable carbon removal.

6. How Biochar Compares to Other Carbon Removal Methods

There are many other CDR approaches being explored:

-Direct Air Capture (DAC): Pulls CO₂ directly from the air but is extremely expensive (often above $500 per ton).

-Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW): Crushes rocks to speed up natural carbon absorption but is logistically heavy.

-BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage): Burns biomass for energy and captures emissions but requires major infrastructure.

Compared to these, biochar:

-Costs between $82–$246 per ton of CO₂ removed (more affordable).

-Already has projects up and running at commercial scale.

-Delivers side benefits like soil fertility, something DAC and ERW cannot offer.

In short, biochar is a “here-and-now” solution rather than a distant future option.

7. Challenges in Scaling Biochar

Of course, biochar is not without its hurdles. Some key challenges include:

-Feedstock sustainability: Projects must ensure they use true waste biomass, not crops grown specifically for biochar (which could compete with food).

-Methane emissions in low-tech kilns: Poorly managed pyrolysis can release methane, offsetting climate benefits.

-Certification and credibility: Buyers need assurance that each carbon credit represents a real, durable removal.

-Price gap: Today, suppliers often need $180/ton to remain profitable, but many buyers are only willing to pay $130–$150/ton.

Addressing these issues will be key for biochar’s growth. Strong digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) systems are helping, especially in small-scale projects across Asia and Africa.

8. Why Biochar Matters for the Future of Carbon Removal

Looking ahead, biochar is likely to play a central role in the climate solutions portfolio. Here’s why:

-It is market-ready and already delivering millions of tons of removals.

-It is scalable, adaptable to both small farms and industrial plants.

-It brings co-benefits, making it attractive beyond just climate.

-It complements, rather than replaces, other CDR methods.

The voluntary carbon market has seen biochar account for over 90% of durable CDR deliveries in 2023–2024. That dominance shows its near-term importance. While DAC or rock weathering may scale later, biochar is the strongest available tool we have now.

Conclusion

Biochar is not just a scientific curiosity — it is a practical solution that bridges ancient techniques with modern climate needs. By turning waste into a durable carbon sink, biochar can help stabilize the climate, improve soils, create jobs, and provide energy co-products.

As the world races toward net-zero, biochar stands out as a tool we can deploy today at scale. It will not solve everything, but it can be a cornerstone of a wider strategy that combines emission cuts, carbon removals, and ecosystem restoration.

In short, the future of carbon removal is not only about high-tech machines or futuristic concepts. It is also about simple, proven, nature-based innovations like biochar.

About Anaxee:
Anaxee drives large-scale, country-wide Climate and Carbon Credit projects across India. We specialize in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and community-driven initiatives, providing the technology and on-ground network needed to execute, monitor, and ensure transparency in projects like agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, improved cookstoves, solar devices, water filters and more. Our systems are designed to maintain integrity and verifiable impact in carbon methodologies.

Ready to collaborate on your next Climate or Carbon project?

Email us at: sales@anaxee.com