Analysis of the socio-economic effects of biochar

Ea Energy Analyses has looked at the potential costs and benefits of carbon storage with the use of biochar in agriculture.

Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of biomass residue, and can then be spread out on fields, where it will decompose very slowly, and thereby potentially contribute to carbon reductions in agriculture. The biomass used for pyrolysis can for instance be straw residues and residues from biogas plants, and thereby can these residues potentially become new income and part of new value chains.

The main results from the analysis were that there is a socio-economic surplus if CO₂ is stored as biochar, but that there is most likely a deficit when looking at the corporate finances.

The project was carried out for CIP Fonden from September 2023 to January 2024, and the report can be downloaded on this page.