U.S.-FocUSed Biochar report - BioEnergy Lists

Biochar and energy linkages in:Biochar and Energy Co-productshugh McLaughlin, PhD PEhmcLaughlin@alternabiocarbon.comBiochar’s potential benefits for the United States in the topic area of Energy Co-products are:• providing a renewable resource with significant GHG emission benefits• providing economic value and local opportunity to create and use biochar• while making biochar, displace fuel oil and natural gas in domestic heating applications• promoting distributed local agriculture productivity and energy productionThe specific issues discussed are:• Calculating the impact on Carbon Dioxide Emissions by using biomass as fuel• Valuing Energy Co-products compared to traditional Fossil Fuels• Estimating the cost of Biochar in Combined Heat and Biochar (CHAB) applications• Valuing Biochar in the Soil – the importance of Yield and Adsorption Capacity• The energy potential of a large amount of biomass – displacing Fossil Fuels• Biochar properties and CHAB production processes – balancing tradeoffs• Process-dependent Energy Co-product propertiesIntroductionBiomass represents the renewable resource with the largest potential to affect energy-related greenhouse gasemissions. There are many possible scenarios by which biomass could influence the current energy consumptionoptions and this analysis will attempt to put those options in perspective. In general, biomass can replace fossilfuels in energy consuming applications (electrical generation, transportation, heating), where the biomass fuelis considered “carbon-neutral”, but the overall application is actually “carbon-negative” if one includes the fossilfuels displaced, as discussed below. Alternately, biomass, in the form of biochar, can be used to sequester carbondioxide when used in agriculture, also considered “carbon-negative”. One can also create the linkage betweenthe consumption of fossil fuel, being “carbon-positive”, and a corresponding offset by carbon-negative biochar,resulting in a carbon-neutral combination. The combinations are endless, but ultimately, society has to meet itsenergy consumption requirement and manage the impact on the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.This analysis seeks to put in perspective the various predominate biomass conversion technologies. While thereare many variations of every technology, and the emergence of new approaches cannot be precluded, the focuswill be on slow pyrolysis, fast pyrolysis and gasification biomass conversion technologies. All of these technologiesare mature in the sense that they have extensive technical histories and have been implemented at pilotBiochar and energy linkages in: Biochar and Energy Co-products 15