U.S.-FocUSed Biochar report - BioEnergy Lists

Timing A transition to 1 Biochar C-Wedge could be well underway by 2020, and of course testing is alreadyin progress. Commercial scale operations have been rumored in Australia. 45 This study has not attempted toaddress introduction timing issues – except for a brief probability example in Subsection 5.7.Carbon neutral benefits The pyrolysis gases and exothermic energy release obtained with all Biochar productioncan be used to displace fossil fuels. There seems likely to be a reduction in needed nitrogen and phosphorousfertilizers, with a carbon neutral offset on the production of the fertilizer. Water use reduction could beimportant. Maybe more important is the indirect impact of enabling other renewable energy resources by providingbackup. This is possibly in total half as large as the carbon negative total.Magnitude of 1 C-wedge We must recognize that four B-wedges leading to about 1.5 C-wedges (combiningthe carbon negative and carbon neutral potentials) in the US are huge carbon totals. In CO 2 terms, this wouldbe 5.5 gigatonnes CO 2 – .4 gigatonnes CO 2 less than 2006 US carbon dioxide emission equivalence from the USconsumption of petroleum, natural gas and coal. 46Working with other Countries Some countries today have much larger annual productivities. The US willhave to participate outside the US if we assume responsibility for the rest of our (roughly25%) “legacy” CO 2 .Dollar Size of a 1 C-Wedge Biochar Industry A commonly-stated future wholesale value for Biochar is $200/tonne. The Biochar 1 C-wedge total then would be at least $200 Billion USD per year. At the ratio of 4 units ofbiomass for one of char, this implies a biomass tonne (after conversion) being worth $50 per tonne (but costingless). But since one-quarter the initial carbon could end up as useful energy, the total Biochar industry value isperhaps closer to $300 Billion per year. The 2009 US GNP was about $14 trillion, 47 so this would be above 2% ofthe US economy.Fossil Fuel Displacement. Since biomass has an energy value of about 17 GJ/tonne, the annual input energyfor four B-wedges will be about 70 Billion GJ or 70 Exajoules per year. The US total energy consumption (105 EJ/yr) is only 50% larger – again showing that 1.5 C-wedges of char and energy is a very large number. But roughlyhalf of the B-wedge total (or 35 EJ/yr) is serving a new carbon-negative sequestering function and would notshow up in the national accounts as consumed energy. More work could show that this example of 4 B-wedgesis sufficient to meet all the needs that cannot be met by combined energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE). It now appears that 1 C-wedge of Biochar, when used as the primary RE backup source, could allow the USto be completely fossil-fuel free.5.5.4 Relationships between the US and World Biomass Resource TotalsThe IBI Biochar projection The most detailed Biochar data we have seen was prepared for InternationalBiochar Initiative by Dr. Jim Amonette. 48 He assumed Biomass limits ranging from 1.2% to 3.2% of an NPP of61.5 GtC/yr. The 3.2% scenario, by coincidence, assumed about 2Gt carbon of input biomass – essentially thesame as the 4 B-wedges of the BBTV. So, although Dr. Amonette was thinking of a world total, his analysis canapply well to our US-only 1 C-wedge situation. The main difference between the assumptions is that the BBTVassumes a 50% conversion of carbon in biomass to char, while Dr. Amonette assumes a 40% conversion. Onejustification for the more optimistic number in the BBTV could be the partial use of the HTC means of conversion;Dr. Amonette’s value is certainly reasonable as well. Dr. Amonette’s upper limit of 3.2% of a worldwide 61.5GtC/yr as the NPP basis for his choice of supply is also realistic given the IBI emphasis on residues. To get toreally large values requires all 9 of the components given above. So there is really no disagreement between thetwo analyses, except this Section’s assumption of highly favorable Biochar policies and thereby, the availabilityof Biochar-dedicated as well as waste resources.45 http://www.carbonedge.com.au/docs/CarbonEdge-CE2_Special_Report-biochar.pdf; http://www.biochar-international.org/sites/default/files/Quirk.pdf46 http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/greenhouse_gas.cfm47 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#Energy48 http://www.biochar-international.org/images/final_carbon_wpver2.0.pdf.Biochar GHG reduction accounting in: Potential Biochar Greenhouse Gas Reductions61