Biochar or agrichar is a fine-grained charcoal substance made from biomass that has been heated in the absence of air. When used as a soil amendment in combination with sustainable production of the biomass feedstock, biochar effectively removes net carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while providing energy. It is thus a carbon-negative energy system. Nuclear power and renewables like solar, non-biochar based bioenergy, wind or hydropower are at best carbon-neutral, resulting in small to no net changes to atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Biochar can remain in the soil for several hundreds to thousands of years, creating virtually permanent soil sinks. Biochar and bioenergy co-production from urban, agricultural and forestry biomass can help combat global climate change by displacing fossil fuel use, by sequestering carbon in stable soil carbon pools, and by dramatically reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases from soils, such as N2O (Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen recently hinted at the possibility that N2O emissions from agriculture and biofuel production may have been underestimated; biochar based bioenergy systems would radically slash these emissions).

Biochar in soils has been shown to:

Improve soil health

Increase crop yields and productivity (by up to 800% when combined with mineral fertilizer in highly weathered acidic tropical soils; by 200 and 300% in advanced agricultural systems that are already at the limit of intensification)

Reduce soil acidity; acid soils make up about half of the world's potential arable land

Reduce N2O emissions from soils

Improve water quality

Reduce nutrient and chemical leaching and run-off, and

Reduce the need for chemical and fertilizer inputs

Biochar production systems can be developed as mobile or stationary units. Smallscale systems can be used on farm or by small industries, and are commercially available for biomass inputs of 50 to 4000kg/hr (dry basis feed input). The bioenergy produced from these biochar production systems, which can be in the form of a synthetic gas, or syngas, or bio-oils, can be used to produce heat, power or combined heat and power.

Smart synergetic systems based on biochar production can slow down deforestation dramatically by limiting slash-and-burn expansion, enhance food production amongst poor communities in the tropics and subtropics, provide access to rural energy thus solving one of the great problems of our time, and mitigate climate change by establishing stable and manageable carbon sinks:

The Second Annual International Meeting will be useful for scientists and researchers in the fields of soils, agronomy, climate change, and bioenergy, and for policymakers, agricultural producers, commercial interests, and anyone interested in learning about this carbon negative method to combat global warming, described as "revolutionary" by the IBI.

The conference will present the latest updates on biochar production and application methodologies, and highlight how biochar production processes can benefit industrialised and developing country situations.

Keynote speakers at the conference include Tim Flannery, author of The Weathermakers:

How Man is Changing the Climate, and What it Means for Life on Earth, and Ron Oxburgh, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, Chairman of D1 Oils and formerly Chairman of Shell Transport and Trading

Registration will be limited so registering in advance is advised.

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) was formed in July 2006 at a side meeting held at the World Soil Science Congress (WSSC) in Philadelphia, PA. At the 2006 meeting, individuals and representatives from academic institutions, commercial ventures, investment bankers, non-governmental organizations, federal agency representatives, and the policy arena from around the world acknowledged a common interest in promoting the research, development, demonstration, deployment (RDD&D) and commercialization of the promising technology of biochar production.

An international conference was organized and held in New South Wales, Australia, in April/May 2007, and attracted the participation of 107 participants from 13 countries, also representing a spectrum of backgrounds. By unanimous consent at the 2007 Conference, the International Biochar Initiative is being established as a non-profit in the US, and will focus on information sharing, coordination, and seek fundraising opportunities to advance the RDD&D and commercialization of this compelling technology.