Biochar Status Under International Law and Regulatory Issues for the Practical Application

Biochar is the carbon-rich product obtained by heating biomass in a closed system under limited supply of oxygen. Currently, there are several thermochemical technologies such as pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal conversion to produce biochar. Pyrolysis involves the heating of organic materials in the absence of oxygen to yield a series of bioproducts: biochar, bio-oil, and syngas. Biochar is a charred carbon-enriched material intended to be used as a soil amendment to sequester carbon and enhance soil quality. Addition of sustainable biochar to soil has many environmental and agricultural benefits, including waste reduction, energy production, carbon sequestration, water resource protection, and soil improvement. Therefore, the use of sustainable biochar as a soil amendment is an innovative and highly promising practice for sustainable agriculture. The prospect of global scale biochar application to soils highlights the importance of a sophisticated and rigorous certification procedure. We propose that a sustainability framework for biochar could be adapted from existing frameworks developer for bioenergy. Sustainable land use policies, combined with effective regulation of biochar production facilities and incentives for efficient utilization of energy, and improved knowledge of biochar impacts on ecosystem health and productivity could provide a strong framework for the development of a robust sustainable biochar industry. The objective of this work was to discuss the concept of integrating biochar properties with environmental factors and with sustainable biochar certification procedure.