Thursday, October 21, 2021
Compensate is proud to welcome FedEx Express Europe as our new climate action partner, extending resources to our work as an environmental non-profit active in the area of carbon capture. Sustainability specialist Eftimiya Salo, shares what you need to know about carbon capture, why biochar is emerging as a viable European option, and why the project we are embarking on is aligned with FedEx own sustainability strategy.
What is biochar and how is it made?
Biochar is a man-made product, with an appearance similar to charcoal. However, it has the capability of binding up to 50% the carbon which would otherwise be released to the atmosphere, storing it for hundreds of years. The process of creating biochar – called pyrolysis – requires heating biomass, such as timber-based production waste, pest-affected woods or forestry or agricultural residues, at high temperatures, without oxygen. The resulting biochar has a solid structure and a low degradation rate, which means it holds more carbon than it releases, making it one of the best performing carbon sinks.
Is biochar currently being sold as a method of carbon capture?
Biochar has staked its place in the voluntary carbon market where it is emerging as a method of great potential. Biochar’s long permanence – storing carbon for at least 100 years – and the promise of various environmental co-benefits, make it an attractive choice for companies looking to offset their emissions as they strive to reach net zero. Some of the largest companies are looking to procure atmospheric carbon removals in the range of millions of tCO2 per year between now and 2040. Biochar carbon credits, procured on the promise of CO2 removal, are a pricier alternative to forestry-based projects which are more commonly favoured having been on the voluntary market for more than two decades. Biochar offers longer-term carbon storage, however, without the uncertainties of forestry-based offsetting such as future deforestation or risk from forest fires and so on.
Why does it have such potential beyond carbon capture?
Alongside its ability to store carbon, biochar offers several environmental co-benefits. When applied to soil, biochar boosts the properties that lead to increased soil fertility and reduces the need for irrigation. The nutrient content of biochar can be enriched by first using it as livestock bedding, manure treatment, or as a compost additive. When used in that way, the biochar captures additional nutrients which otherwise would leak into and contaminate water bodies. But it also increases soil fertility and builds plant resilience to the effects of climate change. Studies suggest that biochar additions could also have a positive effect on soil structure, especially in terms of increasing its capacity to hold water – a co-benefit expected to become increasingly important as climate change experts predict more frequent and severe droughts.
Who is making biochar already and can it be scaled?
The biochar market is relatively immature, and supply is limited due to the presently high production costs. Today, there are just a dozen biochar companies selling carbon credits based on a calculation of the mass of biochar. Producing companies exist in France, Austria, Norway, Finland, Sweden to name a few in Europe. It offers a particularly promising solution for storing carbon in this geographical region, where side-streams from developed forest industries generate a sustainable source of biomass and sophisticated biochar production technology is available.
Are there any concerns about the true sustainability credentials of biochar credits?
It’s important to minimise unwanted emissions from the production process, which can outweigh the benefits of the anticipated removals. Both the raw material used and the process in which it is made, have an impact on the emissions of production and the permeance of the resulting biochar product. There aren’t currently any restrictions on the feedstock you can use, meaning any type of biomass – renewable organic material from either plants or animals - can be used for production of biochar. Using unsustainable feedstock, such as uncertified wood or illegally logged trees leads to negative environmental impacts, so we absolutely need to ensure the sustainability of raw materials used. Add to this, that not all feedstock is suitable for each of the different biochar production technologies. To assess the true sustainability of the solution we should not only consider the source, but the source in the context of the production technology being used.
What can be done to maximise the carbon capture qualities of biochar
Using either unsuitable feedstock, technology or inadequate temperatures for pyrolysis could result in low-quality biochar that has a reduced capacity for carbon storage. If we are to maximise the sustainability credentials of biochar as means of carbon capture, we would advocate that only industry side-streams – materials that would otherwise become waste products – are used for its production. An example of these would be agricultural residues, pest wood, recycled wood and industry side streams from PEFC certified forestry, such as branches, sawdust, wood chips, and other parts of the tree with low economic value.
How are biochar’s carbon sequestration capabilities currently measured
Several initiatives have been developed in the past to help scale biochar’s role on the voluntary carbon market. Both the Biochar Methodology developed by Puro Earth and the European Biochar Certificate - a voluntary industry standard – are helping to assure quality and transparency in production. A proposed methodology for biochar production and utilisation has recently been developed by Verra together with a consortium of experts under the Verified Carbon Standard - the world's largest voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) program. Until now, primarily due to a lack of research, the environmental co-benefits of biochar have not yet been quantified in terms of CO2 equivalent. At present, one tonne of biochar corresponds to 2.8 - 3.2 tonnes of net CO2 removal. If these added environmental benefits can be accounted for, then the emissions reducing value of biochar would effectively be much higher and, in turn, the price of procuring one tonne of CO2 could be considered significantly reduced.
So, what’s next for biochar?
The EU Commission has announced an EU-wide carbon removal certificate scheme which is expected to be launched in 2022 and biochar is one of the carbon removal methods considered. We have an opportunity now, to set stringent and effective standards for biochar that can help scale and maximise its benefits. Compensate regards the recently proposed Verra methodology to have several loopholes which could result in low-quality carbon credits being sold. The true return of the offset a company procures can, in reality, be much lower than promised at the time of purchase. Notably, the proposed methodology accepts “low technology” biochar production in a home-made kiln - a controversial practice that can result in more non-CO2 emissions (NOx) than removals, if a wet biomass is used as the source. It also assumes an average “conservative” rate for the stability of the biochar produced in low technology units – generating an amount of credit that does not take production processes or quality standards into account, both of which affect the permanence. Further to this, producers of biochar can claim ‘avoided emissions’ just from preventing the waste to decompose. It also permits non-soil applications of the end product – for example adding to cement or asphalt. In these applications, the permanence of the carbon capture is only guaranteed so long as the end material is not replaced or disposed of, but for ease the methodology applies by same default decay factor used for high technology produced biochar applied to soil.
How can we ensure biochar credits deliver on their promise?
Compensate is seeking to establish a stringent and scientifically sound criteria that will lead to high-quality biochar projects. By addressing loopholes in existing production methodologies and catering for the environmental co-benefits of biochar application, we hope to not only scale the market but also increase the quality and permeance of biochar carbon sinks. The resulting criteria will set a higher bar for biochar sustainability and will add much needed clarity on aspects of this emerging carbon removal method. As a result, companies will be able to make informed decisions when choosing biochar as a means of procuring carbon offsets and drive the demand for higher-quality biochar credits.
Where does FedEx interest in carbon capture come in?
With grant funding from FedEx Express Europe, Compensate is embarking on a project to develop a biochar evaluation criteria that will help standardise and scale this solution for carbon capture. Knowing the many limitations of the more traditional projects, we feel the time is ripe to push the market forwards and encourage the adoption of more innovative solutions in Europe. FedEx recently announced a donation of $100m to establish the Yale Centre for Natural Carbon Capture – citing sequestration as a key component in achieving its goal of carbon neutral operations by 2040. By investing in carbon capture alongside its efforts to reduce operational emissions, FedEx hopes to support the acceleration of scientific research and practical solutions that can counter the impacts of the wider aviation industry. By forging a powerful partnership with Compensate, FedEx broadens its investment in carbon capture, intending to deliver benefit and build integrity in the voluntary carbon market here in Europe.
Photo credit: Valeria Azovskaya Compensate is a non-profit organisation based in Finland, working in consultation with some of the most prominent biochar experts in the field. A unique portfolio of carbon capture projects combines solutions with different carbon offset values, in order to maximize climate impact. The share of each project in the portfolio is determined by the project’s climate integrity score and the price. This allows for the most competitive projects in terms of the highest climate impact and price to take a bigger share, thus getting the best value for one's money.
Compensate is proud to welcome FedEx Express Europe as our new climate action partner, extending resources to our work as an environmental non-profit active in the area of carbon capture.