Program Objectives:

• Understand Biochar Fundamentals: Learn what biochar is and why it can store carbon for long periods.
• Production Knowledge: Understand pyrolysis concepts, process parameters, and yield trade-offs.
• Soil & Environmental Impacts: Learn how biochar affects soil health, nutrients, water retention, and microbes.
• Quality & Characterization: Understand key properties (surface area, pH, ash, carbon content) and testing basics.
• Application & Field Use: Learn how to apply biochar safely and effectively in real settings.
• Carbon Accounting Basics: Learn permanence, additionality, leakage concepts (high-level) for climate claims.
• Hands-on Outcome: Create a biochar production + deployment blueprint with monitoring plan.

What you will learn?

Module 1: Biochar and Carbon Sequestration — The Big Picture

• Biochar vs charcoal vs compost: what makes biochar “climate-relevant.”
• Carbon sequestration logic: stability, residence time, and soil storage.
• Co-benefits: soil fertility, water retention, waste management (overview).
• Risks and misconceptions: when biochar is not a good idea.

Module 2: Feedstocks and Biomass Selection

• Feedstock options: crop residues, forestry waste, manure, organic wastes (overview).
• Moisture, ash, and contaminants: why feedstock quality matters.
• Supply chain thinking: collection, preprocessing, transport, storage.
• Safety and sourcing: avoiding treated wood and contaminated inputs.

Module 3: Pyrolysis Technology (How Biochar is Made)

• Pyrolysis concept: heating biomass with limited oxygen.
• Key parameters: temperature, residence time, heating rate (and why they matter).
• Slow vs fast pyrolysis overview: char yield vs bio-oil/gas trade-offs.
• System types: kilns to continuous reactors (overview) and operational basics.

Module 4: Biochar Properties and Characterization

• Key properties: carbon content, volatile matter, ash, pH, surface area, porosity.
• Stability indicators: what suggests long-term carbon storage potential.
• Simple testing mindset: sampling, consistency, and reporting.
• Quality variation: why two biochars are not the same product.

Module 5: Soil, Water, and Microbial Interactions

• Soil structure benefits: aggregation, aeration, and moisture retention.
• Nutrient interactions: cation exchange, retention, and fertilizer efficiency (overview).
• Microbial habitat effects: rhizosphere and soil biology interactions (overview).
• Water quality applications: adsorption potential and limitations (overview).

Module 6: Application Methods and Field Implementation

• Application approaches: soil incorporation, top dressing, compost blending (overview).
• Charging/activation concept: mixing with nutrients/compost to improve performance.
• Dosage planning: why “more” is not always better; context-driven rates.
• Health & safety: dust control, handling, and community acceptance.

Module 7: Environmental Risks, Trade-offs, and Best Practices

• Potential risks: PAHs, heavy metals (from feedstock), pH imbalance (overview).
• Monitoring and mitigation: sourcing controls and product testing discipline.
• Trade-offs: land use, biomass competition, and transport emissions.
• Best-practice checklist for responsible deployment.

Module 8: Carbon Accounting, MRV and Climate Claims (High-Level)

• Carbon removal vs avoidance: what biochar claims typically cover.
• MRV basics: measurement, reporting, verification concepts.
• Permanence and additionality: why they matter for crediting.
• Lifecycle thinking: feedstock emissions, energy recovery, transport impacts.

Module 9: Biochar in Circular Economy and Industrial Use Cases (Overview)

• Circular bioeconomy: waste-to-value pathways using residues.
• Industrial applications overview: filtration, additives, construction materials (high-level).
• Co-products: syngas and heat use for energy integration.
• Scale-up realities: economics, maintenance, and operational consistency.

Final Project

• Create a Biochar Carbon Sequestration Implementation Blueprint.
• Include: feedstock plan, pyrolysis approach, quality testing checklist, application plan, risk controls, and MRV outline.
• Example projects: biochar deployment for a farm, biochar from municipal green waste, biochar for drought-prone soil improvement, biochar + compost program for campus sustainability.