USBI expands national biochar standard to boost adoption across diverse applications

The US Biochar Initiative, in collaboration with the American National Standards Institute, will enhance its national standard for biochar laboratory analysis to cover various end-use standards and definitions. This initiative aims to reduce market friction and promote the adoption of biochar across a wide range of applications.

"So the first step was to develop the sort of analysis framework [for biochar] as a standard, and the next thing we're going to be working on, and we'll probably be kicking that off later this year, is to move through a similar process, but for the end-uses of physical biochar, particularly around agricultural end users in the US," Myles Gray, executive director at USBI, told Platts at the 2025 North American Biochar Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, adding that the focus will be on those markets where people recognize biochar's potential and where a standard is helpful.

"It was needed because there aren't standards that currently work for the North American Biochar industry," Gray said. "There are existing standards from the international biochar initiative going back to 2015, but they were largely developed by researchers for researchers. So they're not easy for most commercial labs to use."

These standards will be less prescriptive regarding biochar properties and their compatibility with different end uses, as US producers prefer flexible standards for diverse markets, Gray added.

The European standards from Carbon Standards International are also "not a good fit here," Gray said, suggesting developing end-use standards that reduce market friction in agriculture and ensure only safe biochar labeling.

Ensuring biochar safety

Biochar is created by heating organic materials like agricultural biomass in a low-oxygen environment through pyrolysis, capturing CO2 as a carbon sink. Its diverse applications include soil amendment and water filtration, construction material and animal feed additive.

"Not all biochar is created equal -- it varies in its physical and chemical properties, and different end uses demand specific qualities and characteristics," Will Marquis, executive vice president of Pyreg, a pyrolysis technology provider, told Platts.

Different feedstocks produce unique biochar due to variations in their chemical composition, such as ash and fixed carbon content. The conversion process -- pyrolysis or gasification -- also impacts time and temperature, leading to different types and quantities of biochar with distinct characteristics, making them suitable for various applications.

"The biochar industry is telling people to put biochar on their land as a soil amendment -- we should at least have a standard that ensures that it is safe to be used," Marquis said.

While there are concerns about the accumulation of high levels of metals and contaminants in biochar and their effects on final end uses -- varying significantly based on the type of biomass used -- this area is garnering substantial research interest.

"At the do no harm level, what we're looking at are organic pollutants and heavy metals," Gray said. "So the organic pollutants are like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and polychlorinated biphenyls."

PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals often referred to as "forever chemicals." They have recently gained significant media attention for their environmental and health impacts.

While these pollutants, as they are known, are not commonly found in biochar, they can be, so it is important to prove that they are not. With heavy metals, which are essentially present in all biochar, the concentration is really what matters. So those are probably going to form the core of a do-no-harm standard, Gray said.

According to published literature, the pyrolysis process, when conducted at sufficiently high temperatures, can eliminate PFAS chemicals, resulting in biochar that can be safely used as a soil amendment. Additionally, physical biochar is being tested as a filter medium for removing these chemicals from contaminated soils.

USBI is also working on developing an American Society for Testing and Materials Standard for the use of biochar in concrete. This initiative is expected to enhance the understanding of biochar in building materials and increase demand for biochar within the concrete industry.

Additionally, they are developing a stormwater guidance manual to identify appropriate biochar types for filtration. To support these specifications, they must reference specific analytical methods instead of merely stating carbon concentrations, Gray said.

Biochar standard in focus

As biochar gains popularity as a carbon removal solution, biochar developers in the US are increasingly focusing on diversifying their income, with physical biochar sales playing a crucial role. A significant aspect of this involves analyzing the benefits of biochar across various applications, which necessitates transparency and education.

"In both agricultural and non-agricultural applications, we suggest best practices and guidelines," Tony Marrero, founder and chief marketing officer at Wakefield BioChar, a biochar developer, told Platts. "While we are not experts in plastic manufacturing or farming, we aim to propose responsible guidelines and best practices."

Biochar is a versatile material, so it would be irresponsible to limit it to a single use, Marrero said, adding that "We need to allow users to define the specifications clearly and in a standardized manner."

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, last assessed US biochar credits for current delivery at $149 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent on Sept. 22. Prices were stable day over day, but they were $4/mtCO2e higher month over month despite muted demand.

After the completion of the ANSI standard, the necessity of adhering to standards for physical biochar indicates that a compliance or certification approach will be required for any developed end-use standards, Gray said, adding that routing the standard through a formal standards development organization would take about one and a half years.