ABSTRACT
Large-scale biochar-based carbon sequestration can play an important role in climate mitigation. When biomass is carbonized into biochar, its carbon content becomes highly recalcitrant so that its permanent storage is possible by adding biochar to soil. This practice can also improve soil quality as a secondary benefit. The production of biochar can be integrated with bioenergy plants to achieve a negative carbon footprint. Such systems can utilize the syngas coproduced with biochar to generate biofuels alongside biochar and bio-oil. The mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model can be used to synthesize negative-carbon biochar systems. In this chapter, a bioenergy plant integrated with biochar production is optimized to maximize profitability. The MILP model is employed in two hypothetical case studies. The first case study deals with a system that generates a single grade of biochar. The second case study demonstrates a system that produces multiple grades of biochar by varying the pyrolysis temperature and feedstock type. Multi-grade biochars can be customized to address specific soil quality limitations to maximize the benefits of biochar application.
