How Can Biomass Help Mitigate Climate Change?

Agricultural and organic waste can be transformed into long-lived products or buried for durable storage. As a matter of fact, any plant can be used in biomass carbon dioxide removal (biomass CDR). With roughly half of U.S. garbage being food waste, this represents a massive, largely untapped opportunity.

Biomass CDR approaches include burying trees in low-oxygen environments, transforming plant material into bio-oil for underground injection, or producing biochar through controlled heating in oxygen-deprived chambers. Of these, biochar has shown the greatest near-term promise for scalable deployment.

Biochar works by slow heating the wood to a high temperature in an oxygen deprived chamber. This process locks carbon into the organic material for long term storage. Efficiency and total percentage of carbon captured depends directly on the quality of the biochar facility technology. Biochar facilities can be very accessible ranging from simple pit-based systems to more high tech facilities that recycle the heat for future heating cycles. 

Scaling Biochar: Where Science, Policy, and Community Intersect

Biochar has a multitude of financial incentives including carbon credits and the resale of certain byproducts, such as heat, that increases its long term viability. Additionally, once created, biochar can be applied to agricultural soils, where it enhances soil fertility, increases water retention, and supports microbial life, all while storing carbon for centuries. It can also be used in construction materials, water filtration, or livestock feed additives. These co-benefits make biochar a rare CDR method that bridges carbon removal and tangible ecosystem improvement. 

Biochar’s scalability depends on improving technology access and community partnerships. Efficient, mobile biochar facilities need to be developed and distributed at low or no cost, minimizing barriers to adoption. Many regions – particularly in the Global South – already burn crop residues between growing seasons. Transitioning to biochar production could be as simple as providing the right equipment, training, and financial incentives.

Education and trust are critical. Lasting adoption requires community buy-in, transparency, and the involvement of local leaders or elders who can act as liaisons. Outside organizations must follow through on commitments and communicate clearly about both opportunities and limitations. People don’t know what they don’t know, and empowerment begins with access to knowledge.

Bottom Line 

Biochar-based biomass carbon removal has significant potential due to the abundance of organic material and its co-benefits for soil and ecosystem health.

Carbon capture effectiveness depends on:

• Availability of quality, mobile biochar facilities to expand access into the rural regions 

• Education and resources for communities that already manage organic waste through seasonal burns 

• Policy and market support to create stable demand for biochar carbon credits 

If you’re interested in diving deeper into biomass carbon pathways, I highly recommend exploring the educational resources provided through the AirMiners BootUp program. https://bootup.airminers.com/module-5