Leading carbon dioxide removal (CDR) specialists are calling for a radical update on UK biochar policy to help ensure net zero targets can be met.
The plea was made by the Future Forest Company following its participation at an AIMday® (Academic Industry Meeting day) event hosted by Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service, which links academia with industry.
Biomass contains carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Turning biomass into biochar, by heating it in the absence of oxygen, prevents it breaking down so that carbon can be usefully stored in the soil for hundreds or thousands of years. Current regulation permits biochar to be produced from biomass such as agricultural and forest wastes.