What is Biochar?
Biochar is a charcoal-like material made from plants, that can be applied to land to lock up carbon.
Demonstrator Research
Our research covers biochar production and deployment as well as lifecycle assessments and social science research.
Information for Farmers
The Biochar Demonstrator is recruiting farmers to host biochar field trials, and providing information and guidance.
Additional Resources
Want to learn more? We have some suggested podcasts and articles from around the web.
Latest News
The 3rd International Negative Emissions Conference (University of Oxford, 18-21 June 2024)
The Biochar Demonstrator headed to Oxford to participate in the 3rd International Negative Emissions Conference where Colin Snape chaired the session on biochar which included two presentations: showcasing our research on biochar stability and techno-economic and life cycle analysis. Our extensive collaboration with the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Strategies…
Genevieve Hodgins – Digging into biochar – Fighting climate change with charcoal in agriculture’
Dr Genevieve Hodgins, Project Manager for the Biochar Demonstrator, delivers a short talk on carbon removal approaches during the 2024 Pint of Science festival. To achieve net-zero and halt climate change, we need to not only reduce emissions but remove carbon from the atmosphere. There…
Biochar Blog #3: Biosolids, Fertilisers and Local Feedstocks – A warm welcome to our gap-filling research projects
Biochar is a greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technology that can potentially make a major contribution to the UK’s net zero target achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions when applied to agricultural lands, peatlands and other locations. However, the big questions are: how can we make sure it is environmentally sustainable and economically viable? And are there any technological improvements that can facilitate the realisation of these goals?
Biochar Blog #2 – Critical Understanding of Biochar: Sequestration potential and economic performance
Biochar is a greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technology that can potentially make a major contribution to the UK’s net zero target achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions when applied to agricultural lands, peatlands and other locations. However, the big questions are: how can we make sure it is environmentally sustainable and economically viable? And are there any technological improvements that can facilitate the realisation of these goals?
Research Update – Summer 2022
Small scale field trials at the Universities of Nottingham and Bangor are well underway and are already producing interesting datasets. As well as these trials, despite the unusually dry weather and some biochar supply issues, five farmers applied biochar to one-hectare plots on their working…
Research Update – Biochar in Bangor
Henfaes research centre, about 7 miles outside of Bangor, recently became the latest site for the application of biochar by our researchers. Rob Brown and Maria Majka with support from their colleagues at Bangor Uni, applied over 800 kg of biochar (by hand!) to 40…