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Unveiling the Biochar Potential: Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions across the Biogas Supply Chain
(2024)
The carbon-rich material known as biochar is the product of pyrolysis – a thermochemical conversion of biomass in the absence of oxygen. Given its characteristics, including long-term stability and sorption capacity, biochar has received increasing attention as a promising tool for addressing climate change and enhancing the production of biogas. This work combines both functions by examining, through different application scenarios, the potential role of biochar in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the biogas supply chain. The wood-derived and high pyrolyzed biochar CarboFerm® was used as an example biochar for application in four different scenarios: (1) Application to soil without fertilizer, (2) application to soil with fertilizer, (3) application to biogas fermenter, (4) application to digestate treatment. The GHG mitigation was calculated by applying the methodology of the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II). The scenario comparison resulted in GHG mitigation effectiveness of 0.03, 0.01, 0.06, and 0.03 g CO2eq / MJ biogas / t biochar, respectively. Thus, this study recommends using biochar in biogas fermenters and subsequently applying the biochar-enriched digestate to agricultural soil to reduce GHG emissions from biogas production. Furthermore, it is suggested that the mitigation potential of biochar may not be fully recognized in the RED, potentially resulting in an underestimation of its effectiveness.