Biochar

The intersection of carbon capture and soil health in sustainable circular agriculture

Technology evolution in the realms of carbon capture or sequestration is evolving at a high pace.

With the PTEC Biochar Chile from the Technological Development Unit (UDT) of the University of Concepción (UdeC), focused on Science, Technology, and Innovation in Bioeconomy, we are going to evaluate the carbon credit potential of their Biochar from organic and non-organic agricultural waste.

The mitigation potential power from the pyrolyzed waste, or Biochar, is 110.000 tons CO2/year for the evaluated amount of waste, which would help reduce the anthropogenic CO2 footprint of said waste and improve soil health by working as a water and fertilizer retainer.

This project has received over USD 2M in funding from CORFO (Chilean Economic Development Agency) and is expected to last 5 years. During this time, the construction, operation, and optimization of the pyrolysis plant and Biochar production will occur, streamlining the process of taking the agricultural waste, developing a business model alongside the farmers, and selling it back to them in the form of Biochar, making it a genuine Circular Economy product for Chilean Agriculture.

We are very thankful to the PTEC Biochar Chile team for having us as an Associated Partner for the Economic Sustainability Study part of this project that will evaluate how to monetize the Biochar Carbon Capture potential with Carbon Credits. We look forward to continuing to collaborate to make the Biochar a Carbon Neutrality enhancer product.