Cooling the Planet

Closing the Carbon Cycle – Waste to Biochar Hydro-Pyrolysis

Planet | AECOM, Faber Maunsell in London, UK
Introduction/Background
Large-scale geo-engineering schemes offer an opportunity to reduce the impacts of climate
change by affecting the global energy balance. The two key approaches are:
1) Reduce incoming solar radiation;
2) Decrease the greenhouse effect by reducing the atmospheric concentration of
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs).
Schemes designed to decrease solar gains need to demonstrate that they are truly global
solutions as the implications of such a system, such as seeding clouds or space mirrors, could
be far-reaching and irreversible. In addition, schemes to reduce GHG levels, such as fertilising
the seas, rely on unknown technologies and significant interference with natural cycles.
We propose stabilising atmospheric CO2 levels by closing the carbon cycle through reducing
geological oil extraction and returning carbon back to the earth. This is done through diverting
organic waste streams from land-fill to a network of pyrolysis plants, where the waste is split at
high temperature and pressure into syngas and biochar residue.
The syngas may be used as the starting point for fuel, while the biochar can be used in
agriculture to enrich soils, increase yields, and most importantly sequester carbon stably in the
ground. This approach utilises several technologies, all of which are established or currently in
trials.
Waste-to-Biochar: Pyrolysis
Organic waste can be transformed into useful products using pyrolysis. This is similar to
geological processes transforming biological matter into fossil fuels at high pressure and
temperature, but performs the transformation within hours rather than millennia. It is capable of
converting hydrocarbon based materials into useful products including diesel, gas, fuel oil and
carbon solids (biochar).
A successful approach to pyroysis is thermal depolymerisation. Early pyrolysis processes
attempted to use dry material which required huge amounts of energy to drive off and remove
the water (anhydrous pyrolysis). The problem was solved by reducing the process into a two
stage wet process using water to conduct heat to the feedstock rather than being driven out by
an energy wasteful heating process (hydro-pyrolysis).

This process takes feedstocks such as plastic bottles, municipal solid waste, tyres, medical
waste and animal by-products. The products of this are syngas (mainly CO and H2) and biochar;
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pyrolysis typically has a recovery rate of around 50% of initial carbon as biochar .
Terra Preta & Soil Chemistry
Terra Preta (dark earth) is fertile carbon-rich man-made soil found in the Amazon Basin, created
through a slash-and-char process produced by a low temperature burning of biomass. Biochar
produced from pyrolysis can be used to create fertile soil similar to Terra Preta efficiently, as
biochar has a 50% carbon conversion from biomass compared to 3% from direct burning, or 10-
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20% over 5-10 years for biological decomposition .

1
Lehmann J, Gaunt J, and Rondon M. 2006. Biochar sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems: a review. Mitig Adapt
Strategy Global Change 11: 403–27.
Various sources reference the ability of biochar to absorb a range of nutrients such as ammonia,
ammonium, nitrate, phosphate and other ionic solutes, increasing the fertility and yield of the
soil. Research shows that NOx emissions were reduced by 80% while methane emissions were
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eliminated through the presence of biochar (20g/kg) within the soil .
Biochar is also more stable in soil than other carbon rich mediums; Lehmann3 (2008) states that
the sequestration period is from hundreds to thousands of years. The pyrolysis of biomass to
produce biofuels has an estimated potential to sequester 5.5-9.5PgC/yr based on projections of
renewable energy use for the year 2100. This exceeds current fossil fuel emissions of
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5.4PgC/yr .
Applications and Engineering Feasibility
We propose collecting agricultural, forestry and municipal waste for a wide network of combined
heat and power pyrolysis plants, feeding decentralised district heating systems. District heating
systems allow the wasted heat from electricity generation to be harnessed, allowing as much as
90% of the fuel’s energy to be employed, compared with only 40% utilised by present day power
stations. These are already widely used in the UK and Europe, particularly Denmark.
A by-product of pyrolysis is biochar. This would be collected and distributed to be worked into
the land to sequester carbon and increase soil fertility. Rising populations and the impacts of
climate change including increasing desertification and rising sea levels mean that we must
make the most effective use of the land. Biochar would be used to sequester carbon while
improving agricultural land, or for greening cities in parks, urban agriculture and green roofs.
Biochar could also help to alleviate our reliance on GHG intensive inorganic fertilizer, as well as
removing the associated harmful effects of these chemicals on the environment.
A strong emphasis still needs to be placed on the importance of the waste hierarchy. Reducing
waste should be the priority, but some waste is inevitable and by utilising this, this means that
waste can be diverted from land-fill, reducing its adverse impacts including methane generation
and contamination of land and groundwater.
Although we believe this to be viable, we are aware that any engineering process has
drawbacks. For example, the assurance of waste streams may not be certain, and
misconception of odour may harm planning applications. Plans for a 5.5MW renewable power
plant from Banham Power in Norfolk utilise a similar process to pyrolysis to extract the biogas
from the poultry by-products, linking with Banham Poultry to ensure constant feedstock. An
independent technical assessment by specialist consultants confirmed that the plant would not
give rise to environmental/amenity problems for local people through issues such as emissions,
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odour, noise and traffic, and planning permission was granted.
Summary
Waste-to-biochar hydropyrolysis is a great opportunity for cooling the planet, lowering CO2 levels
by sequestering carbon. It utilises established and current in-trial technologies, and offers a truly
sustainable solution, by addressing environmental, economic and social concerns.
Environmental – reduces GHG emissions from soil and landfill; stably sequesters carbon;
reduces reliance on inorganic fertilisers; restores soil fertility.
Economic – converts waste streams to a valuable resource, producing fuel and biochar.
Social – increases crop yields; provides low carbon district heating; helps increase green areas
in cities.
This technology turns a problem – waste streams going to landfill/incineration – into a solution,
and closes the loop of our carbon use, reducing our carbon emissions, and cooling the planet.

2
Rondon M, Ramirez JA, and Lehmann J. 2005. Charcoal additions reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to the
atmosphere. In: Proceedings of the 3rd USDA Symposium on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration in
Agriculture and Forestry; 2005 Mar 21–24; Baltimore, MD. Baltimore, MD: University of Delaware. p 208.
3
Lehmann J, Terra Preta de Indio Soil Biochemistry, Cornell Unversity,[online],
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/terra_preta/TerraPretahome.htm, accessed 26/11/2008
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