Danny Day

Sustainability: the capacity of smokeless biomass pyrolysis for energy production, global carbon capture and sequestration

Smokeless biomass pyrolysis for biochar and biofuel production is a possible arsenal for global carbon capture and sequestration at gigatons of carbon (GtC) scales. The United States can annually harvest over 1.3 Gt (gigaton) of dry biomass. Use of the smokeless (clean and efficient) biomass-pyrolysis technology would enable the United States to converts its 1.3 Gt of annually harvestable biomass to biochar products equivalent to 325 million tons of stable carbon plus significant amount of biofuels including syngas and bio-oils. Currently, the world could annually harvest more than 6.5 GtC y−1 of biomass. The 6.5 GtC y−1 of biomass could be converted to biochar (3.25 GtC y−1) and biofuels (with heating value equivalent to that of 6500 million barrels of crude oil). Because biochar is mostly not digestible to microorganisms, a biochar-based soil amendment could serve as a permanent carbon-sequestration agent in soils/subsoil earth layers for thousands of years. By storing 3.25 GtC y−1 of biochar (equivalent to 11.9 Gt of CO2 per year) into soil and/or underground reservoirs alone, it would offset the worlds 8.67 GtC y−1 of fossil fuel CO2 emissions by about 38%. The worldwide maximum capacity for storing biochar carbon into agricultural soils (1411 million hectares) is estimated to be about 428 GtC. It may be also possible to provide a global carbon “thermostat” mechanism by creating biochar carbon energy storage reserves. This biomass-pyrolysis “carbon-negative” energy approach merits serious research and development worldwide to help provide clean energy and control global warming for a sustainable future of human civilization on Earth.

Biochar Fertilizer for Soil Amendment and Carbon Sequestration

Use of biochar fertilizer is potentially an attractive approach for soil amendment and carbon sequestration possibly at giga tons of carbon (GtC) scale. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is an important parameter in retaining inorganic nutrients, such as K+ and NH 4 + in soil. This experimental study showed that the CEC value of biochar is related to the biomass pyrolysis temperature. Biochar materials made from the pelletized peanut hulls at pyrolysis temperature of about 400C yield the best CEC value. As the pyrolysis temperature increases over 400C, the CEC value decreases. The biochar produced from the 400C pyrolysis possesses certain binding affinity for ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) probably because of the presence of more biochar surface functional groups. Addition of ammonium bicarbonate to biochar can help neutralize the pH of biochar material potentially beneficial for certain agricultural soil applications in relation to soil amendment and carbon sequestration.

Smokeless Biomass Pyrolysis for Producing Biofuels and Biochar as a Possible Arsenal to Control Climate Change

Smokeless (emission-free, clean, and efficient) biomass pyrolysis for biochar and biofuel production is a possible arsenal for global carbon capture and sequestration at gigatons of carbon (GtC) scales. The worlds annual unused waste biomass, such as crop stovers, is about 3.3 GtC y1. If this amount of biomass (3.3 GtC y1) is processed through the smokeless pyrolysis approach, it could produce biochar (1.65 GtC y1) and biofuels (with heating value equivalent to 3,250 million barrels of crude oil) to help control global warming and achieve energy independence from fossil fuel. By using 1.65 GtC y1 of biochar into soil and/or underground reservoirs alone, it would offset the 8.5 GtC y1 of fossil fuel CO2 emissions by 19%. The worldwide maximum capacity for storing biochar carbon into agricultural soils is estimated to be about 428 GtC. It may be also possible to provide a global carbon thermostat mechanism by creating biochar carbon energy storage reserves. This biomass-pyrolysis carbon-negative energy approach merits serious research and development worldwide to help provide clean energy and control climate change for a sustainable future of human civilization on Earth.