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Biochar Basics
New to biochar? Start here. Biochar is a stable, carbon-rich solid made by heating biomass in a low-oxygen process called pyrolysis — and applying it to soil locks carbon away for an estimated centuries-to-millennia timescale.
These guides cover the fundamentals: what biochar is, how it removes CO₂, and how the basics connect to carbon credits and soil health.
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What biochar actually is
Biochar is charcoal made deliberately, to be buried rather than burned. Plant material — crop residue, wood, bamboo, husk — is heated to roughly 450–700°C with the oxygen largely excluded, a process called pyrolysis. Burning would release that carbon as CO₂ within minutes. Pyrolysis instead locks most of it into a dense, porous solid that resists decomposition for centuries.
The result is typically 65–90% carbon by weight, riddled with pore structure. That structure is what makes it useful twice over: in soil it holds water and nutrients and houses microbial life, and because the carbon stays chemically stable, keeping it in the ground counts as removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. Our full reference on what biochar is covers uses, price and production in one place.
Why it counts as carbon removal
Most climate finance historically paid for avoided emissions — a tonne that was not released. Biochar is different: the CO₂ was already absorbed by the plant, and pyrolysis prevents it returning. That makes it a removal, and a durable one, which is why it commands a premium over avoidance-type offsets.
Durability is estimated rather than assumed. Standards use the hydrogen-to-organic-carbon ratio — H:Corg — as the physical proxy for how long the carbon will persist, commonly modelled at centuries to over a thousand years. As an indicative figure, a tonne of certified biochar corresponds to roughly 2–2.8 tonnes of CO₂e removed, depending on carbon content and the methodology applied. Treat every such number as an estimate that depends on project specifics, never a guarantee.
Where the basics lead
Once the fundamentals are clear, the practical questions follow quickly: which biomass qualifies, what equipment suits it, how removals are measured and verified, and who actually buys the credits. Those are covered across project development, MRV and verification, feedstock and technology and carbon markets.
If you want the hands-on version first, the step-by-step guide to making biochar from bamboo walks through drying, kiln choice, burning and quenching in plain language, and is a good sense-check on what production really involves.
Frequently asked questions
What is biochar in simple terms?
Biochar is charcoal made on purpose to be put into soil rather than burned as fuel. Plant material is heated with very little air, which locks most of its carbon into a stable form instead of releasing it as CO₂. In soil it improves water and nutrient retention; because the carbon stays put for centuries, the same act also removes CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Is biochar the same as charcoal?
They are made the same way and are chemically close. The difference is purpose and control: charcoal is produced as a fuel, while biochar is produced under controlled conditions to a known, measurable quality and then applied to soil or another long-term use. Only biochar made and measured to a recognised standard can earn carbon credits.
Does biochar work in Indian soils?
It helps most on degraded, acidic, sandy or low-organic-matter soils, which describes a great deal of Indian farmland. On already-fertile, well-structured soil the response is often small. Benefits are real but conditional, and biochar should be charged with compost or manure before application or it can temporarily tie up nitrogen.