Biochar Carbon Removal

The ECOERA Millennium Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) System removes sky carbon and puts it permanently into soils. Using biochar as carbon storage agent is by far the most efficient carbon removal method as it only removes the carbon, not the whole CO2 molecule.

Customers are granted ownership of the carbon removal and a certificate linked to the audit trail to prove the ownership of the carbon dioxide equivalents embodied in form of millennia-stable biochar carbon sequestered in Swedish soils.

The biochar carbon removal (BCR) is of highest quality and stability. The carbon stability in the biochar is third party verified through being compliant with the strict standards of the European Biochar Certificate and is third party verified via bio-inspecta GmbH according to the strict puro.earth Biochar methodology. More info on the Puro listing here.

How does it work?

The system starts with pyrolysis of pelletized biomass blends with specified mineral composition, thereby producing heat and biochar. The syngas is burned for district heating and the biochar is returned to the fields as a soil enhancer and carbon sink.

ECOERA has created a platform with complete carbon audit trail for following the carbon from biomass to soil and its exact location and amount including analysis data.

The complete ECOERA Millennium(TM) Biochar Carbon Removal system provides for a method of decreasing atmospheric CO2 and constitutes an easily quantifiable way of measuring CO2 sequestration, thereby creating a market for carbon removal. It is an example of how Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) can be realized. H/Corg ratio is 0,25 indicating high stability of the carbon. The biochar is produced in Hammenhög, in South Sweden. The facility is one of the largest biochar production facilities in the EU and is based on spearhead systems P500 and P1500 from German carbonization technology manufacturer PYREG GmbH.

The typical customer is an individual, company or organization purchasing carbon removal to make its operations truly carbon neutral – not only decreasing emissions somewhere else but actually sequestering the carbon from the atmosphere.

Please contact us for the documentation and certification of the carbon removal system and LCA documentation.

In the game since 2009

ECOERA conducted the first large scale biochar carbon removal by applications of biochar to Swedish farmland in 2009.

The application of biochar also generated agricultural benefits and showed a 9,6% increase in plant height (Spring Barley, clay soil, mineral fertilizer) for the 2009 biochar carbon sequestrations and a 33% increase in harvest yield from dry sandy soils from the 2010 sequestrations. This trial was made with external consultant stemming from the Swedish Agricultural Society to verify the trial. The trial was conducted using the Skånefrö Biochar from pellet recipe R54 in six rows with double sampling and made by a Sampo 2010 sampling harvester. When increasing the biochar application from 1 to 3 kg/m2 - all other parameters equal.

In addition to this, pot trials (Tomato: totem) have been successful. 39% tomato yield compared to control. The 2011 trials showed a 33% crop yield increase in the long-term biochar field application. The 2012 and the concluding 2013 large-scale field trial has shown a continuous positive effect in the soil with harvest increase of 9% in 2013 and 14% in 2013.

The biochar has a H/C and O/C ratio in accordance to optimal electron transfer in the carbon-microbe-mineral conducive network, indicating a high potential for negative priming effects in soil. (Tinaran, Barnaby, Lehmann 2017 Nature Communications) The temperature range of the biochar produced creates a geoconductor mechanism , removing the electron transfer bottleneck between soil microbes.