Biochar Carbon Protocol Development

Biochar is charcoal that is used as a soil amendment to increase plant productivity and as a means of keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Although a number of voluntary carbon standards allow for soil carbon projects to generate carbon offsets, no protocol has been developed for biochar. The overall objective of this research project is to develop a protocol for quantifying the greenhouse gas emission reductions from the production and incorporation into soil of biochar in agricultural and forest management systems that can be adopted by an internationally applicable carbon offset standard. The secondary objective will be to apply this methodology to the Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserve (HFWR) context that is currently developing biochar on an experimental scale. Ultimately, the goal is to enable HFWR and other companies doing similar things to sell carbon offsets for the production and use of biochar within the forestry sector. Monetizing this resource could allow HFWR to scale-up its current activities.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr Gary Bull

Student:

Kahlil Baker

Partner:

Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserves LTD

Discipline:

Forestry

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of British Columbia