Biochar -- A charcoal byproduct created by burning woody products at slow and low heat, improves soil health and is a carbon “sink” that sequesters carbon and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Pyrolysis is a unique alternative energy source because it produces heat and power from the burning of woody products while creating biochar with its rich sequestering properties. From the rich fertile soil of the Amazon jungle to the fields and forests of New York, Cornell Crop and Soil scientist Johannes Lehmann has studied biochar and its soil enhancing properties. Lehmann estimates simply converting residues from commercial forestry, fallow farm fields, and annual crops to charcoal could compensate for as much as a third of U.S. fossil-fuel emissions.
Recent news articles in Nature, National Geographic and other mainstream media focused on this new and unique approach to removing carbon from the atmosphere while creating energy at the same time.
Soil Fertility Management & Biogeochemistry
A new growth industry? - The Economist
A handful of carbon - Nature Magazine (pdf)
Soil - Our Good Earth - National Geographic
Carbon - The Biochar Solution - Time Magazine