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Technical Greenhouse-Gas Mitigation Potentials of Biochar Soil Incorporation in Germany

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  • Isabel Teichmann

Abstract

Biochar is a carbon-rich solid obtained from the heating of biomass in the (near) absence of oxygen in a process called pyrolysis. Its deployment in soils is increasingly discussed as a promising means to sequester carbon in soils and, thus, to help mitigate climate change. For a wide range of feedstocks and scenarios and against the baseline of conventional feedstock management, we calculate the technical greenhouse-gas mitigation potentials of slow-pyrolysis biochar in 2015, 2030 and 2050 when the biochar is incorporated into agricultural soils in Germany and when the by-products from biochar production – pyrolysis oils and gases – are used as renewable sources of energy. Covering the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, our analysis reveals that biochar allows for an annual technical greenhouse-gas mitigation potential in Germany in the range of 2.8-10.2 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents by 2030 and 2.9-10.6 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents by 2050. This corresponds to approximately 0.4-1.5% and 0.3-1.1% of the respective German greenhouse-gas reduction targets in 2030 and 2050.

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  • Isabel Teichmann, 2014. "Technical Greenhouse-Gas Mitigation Potentials of Biochar Soil Incorporation in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1406, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1406
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    1. Isabel Teichmann, 2014. "Technical Greenhouse-Gas Mitigation Potentials of Biochar Soil Incorporation in Germany: Data Documentation," Data Documentation 73, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Isabel Teichmann, 2015. "An Economic Assessment of Soil Carbon Sequestration with Biochar in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1476, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Isabel Teichmann & Claudia Kemfert, 2014. "Biokohle in der Landwirtschaft als Klimaretter?," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 47, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biochar; agriculture; Germany; climate change; soil carbon sequestration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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