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Title: Biochar as a carbon dioxide removal strategy in integrated long-run mitigation scenarios

Journal Article · · Environmental Research Letters
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Joint Global Change Research Institute; Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Joint Global Change Research Institute
  3. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Limiting global warming to under 2 °C would require stringent mitigation and likely additional carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to compensate for otherwise unabated emissions. Because of its technology readiness, relatively low cost, and potential co-benefits, the application of biochar to soils could be an effective CDR strategy. We use the Global Change Analysis Model, a global multisector model, to analyze biochar deployment in the context of energy system uses of biomass with CDR under different carbon price trajectories. We find that biochar can create an annual sink of up to 2.8 GtCO2 per year, reducing global mean temperature increases by an additional 0.5%–1.8% across scenarios by 2100 for a given carbon price path. In our scenarios, biochar's deployment is dependent on potential crop yield gains and application rates, and the competition for resources with other CDR measures. We find that biochar can serve as a competitive CDR strategy, especially at lower carbon prices when bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is not yet economical.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
2396978
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2369652; OSTI ID: 2407009; OSTI ID: 2447599
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A20-89438; PNNL-SA-173823; MainId:90217; UUID:bffb1552-4d61-444a-b98f-b0a30a0bbbf7; MainAdminId:72280
Journal Information:
Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 19, Issue 7; ISSN 1748-9326
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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