POSSIBLE BIOCHAR ECONOMIES

A rough overview of biochar applications for the physical Green Economy
Agronomy
Water retention-conservation-buffering-filtration
Plant nutrient retention
Soil conditioner
Microbial housing
Soil structure
-porosity
Slow release fertiliser
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
-Areas
Agriculture
Animal feed
Silage agent
Animal bedding eg. livestock, chickens
Litter feed
Viticulture
Substitute for peat or sphagnum moss in potting soil
Forestry
Horticulture-Gardening
Herbs
Agroforestry
Hydroponics
Microgreens
Seedballs
Fungae production
Reforestation, afforestation
Aquaculture
-onshore fish farming or other marine life
-Aquaponics
-Fish food
-water filtration
 
Specialty materials
Biochar fillers
-paper eg. packaging materials
-paints
3D printer ink
Biochar-based composites
-Carbon fiber
-Hempcharcrete
-bamboo
Biochar-Inorganic-based composites
-Epoxy resin
-Carbon steel
-Biochar-Containing reinforced plastics
-Concrete
-Render
-Insulation
Automotive, Trucking, Aviation industries
-rubber tyres
-Bitumen
-vehicle parts eg. macrostructure, interiors
 
Chemical
Air filtration
Water filtration
-distillation eg. Whisky
-Water softening
-Capacitive Deionis(z)ation (CDI) for water desalination
-Wastewater treatment
Catalyst
Absorbent
A barrier preventing pesticides getting into surface water
Electrochemical measurement devices
-relative humidity sensors
-detection of ions
Antibacterial
 
Energy Storage
-Supercapacitors
-Ultracapacitors
-Batteries
-Hydrogen tanks
-Stabilise biodigestors
-improve short chain fatty acid algae anaerobic fermentation
-biogas slurry treatment
 
Electronics
-Electrodes
-Circuit boards eg. Silica replacement
-Photovoltaics eg.printed solar cells
Hydrogen
-?Photocatalyst aggregates with biochar, hematite and microalgae
-storage
-Hydrogen fuel cells
Microbial Fuel Cells
 
Fuel
Gasification eg.TLUD stoves, Kon-Tiki, Power Pallet, ECHO2
Co-firing
Combustion
 
Carbon credits
Carbon sequestration
Stable Carbon eg. up to 60+ million years in phytoliths/plantstone/PhytoOCs
NORI
Other Carbon credit schemes
 
Other uses
Textiles
-sportswear
-military uniforms
-outdoor gear
Fabric additive for functional underwear
Thermal insulation
Deodorant for shoe soles
Household
-water filtration
-air filtration
-Microgreens
-Aquaponics
-self-composting toilet
-Cooking eg. rice cooking
-Crockery
-Utensils
-Pets eg.aquarium, kitty litter
-pillow filling
-mattress filling
-paints
-plasters for humidity regulation
-building insulation
-renders
-diapers
Biomedical
Pharmaceutical
-activated biochar eg. detox, drug overdose
-medicinal herbs
-carrier for active pharmaceutical ingredients
-other medicinal plants
Cosmetics
-soap
-moisturisers
-toothpaste
Chemical industry
Radiation-blocking materials
Electromagnetic shielding from ‘Electrosmog’
 
Environmental Remediation
Wastewater treatment
Sewage treatment
-Slurry treatment
-Sewage farms eg. stabilisation ponds
-self-composting toilets
Heavy metal removal
Nutrient reclamation
Soil remediation
Inorganical pollutants removal
Organic pollutants removal
Gaseous pollutants removal
Eutrophication
 
REFERENCES
Bates & Draper, ‘Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth’, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018
Bartoli, Giorcelli et al, ‘A review of Non-Soil Biochar Applications’, MDPI, 2019
Schmidt,H-P, ‘The 55 uses of biochar’, Ithaka Journal, 2012

 

Biochar in SE Asia

Biochar in forestry

Biochar in coffee production

Biochar in coffee production. Source: Thayer Tomlinson, 2015
Biochar in coffee production. Source: Thayer Tomlinson, 2015

For more biochar applications try 'Google Images' and search for 'biochar economy' or go directly to A biochar economy wiki