Life cycle assessment for biochar systems: a review

Climate change is exacerbating the phenomena of desertification and soil erosion and, as a recent FAO report claims, this could lead to a 10% loss of global agricultural production by 2050. Mitigating climate change is therefore the watchword of contemporary society, both through a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and the removal of GHGs already present in it. Biochar is a suitable material for both purposes. In this chapter, several life cycle assessment studies on the production and use of biochar were analyzed, mainly referring to its use as a soil improver, for the long-term storage of carbon dioxide, and for its retention capacity of water and other mineral substances. Furthermore, other studies in which biochar was used as an integral element of other composite materials were taken into consideration to validate the key thesis of this work: the use of biochar on a large scale will lead to net and concrete benefits in terms of capturing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.