Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality
Biochar, derived from unused biomass, is widely considered for its potential to deal with climate change problems. Global interest in biochar is attributed to its ability to sequester carbon in soil and to remediate aquatic environment from water pollution. As soil conditioner and/or adsorbent, bioc...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-1724462023-12-11T02:05:28Z Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Liang, Xue Goh, Hui Hwang Gikas, Petros Chong, Kok-Keong Chew, Kit Wayne School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Engineering::Chemical engineering Biochar Carbon Neutrality Biochar, derived from unused biomass, is widely considered for its potential to deal with climate change problems. Global interest in biochar is attributed to its ability to sequester carbon in soil and to remediate aquatic environment from water pollution. As soil conditioner and/or adsorbent, biochar offers opportunity through a circular economy (CE) paradigm. While energy transition continues, progress toward low-emissions materials accelerates their advance towards net-zero emissions. However, none of existing works addresses CE-based biochar management to achieve carbon neutrality. To reflect its novelty, this work provides a critical overview of challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote CE and carbon neutrality. This article also offers seminal perspectives about strengthening biomass management through CE and resource recovery paradigms, while exploring how the unused biomass can promote net zero emissions in its applications. By consolidating scattered knowledge in the body of literature into one place, this work uncovers new research directions to close the loops by implementing the circularity of biomass resources in various fields. It is conclusive from a literature survey of 113 articles (2003-2023) that biomass conversion into biochar can promote net zero emissions and CE in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Depending on their physico-chemical properties, biochar can become a suitable feedstock for CE. Biochar application as soil enrichment offsets 12% of CO2 emissions by land use annually. Adding biochar to soil can improve its health and agricultural productivity, while minimizing about 1/8 of CO2 emissions. Biochar can also sequester CO2 in the long-term and prevent the release of carbon back into the atmosphere after its decomposition. This practice could sequester 2.5 gigatons (Gt) of CO2 annually. With the global biochar market reaching USD 368.85 million by 2028, this work facilitates biochar with its versatile characteristics to promote carbon neutrality and CE applications. The authors thank Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for the Research Grants (No. Q.J130000.21A6.00P14 and Q. J130000.3809.22H07) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) through a Fellowship for Visiting Experts (FR3240322700). 2023-12-11T02:05:28Z 2023-12-11T02:05:28Z 2023 Journal Article Kurniawan, T. A., Othman, M. H. D., Liang, X., Goh, H. H., Gikas, P., Chong, K. & Chew, K. W. (2023). Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality. Journal of Environmental Management, 332, 117429-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117429 0301-4797 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/172446 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117429 36773474 2-s2.0-85147709360 332 117429 en Journal of Environmental Management © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Engineering::Chemical engineering Biochar Carbon Neutrality Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Liang, Xue Goh, Hui Hwang Gikas, Petros Chong, Kok-Keong Chew, Kit Wayne Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
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Biochar, derived from unused biomass, is widely considered for its potential to deal with climate change problems. Global interest in biochar is attributed to its ability to sequester carbon in soil and to remediate aquatic environment from water pollution. As soil conditioner and/or adsorbent, biochar offers opportunity through a circular economy (CE) paradigm. While energy transition continues, progress toward low-emissions materials accelerates their advance towards net-zero emissions. However, none of existing works addresses CE-based biochar management to achieve carbon neutrality. To reflect its novelty, this work provides a critical overview of challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote CE and carbon neutrality. This article also offers seminal perspectives about strengthening biomass management through CE and resource recovery paradigms, while exploring how the unused biomass can promote net zero emissions in its applications. By consolidating scattered knowledge in the body of literature into one place, this work uncovers new research directions to close the loops by implementing the circularity of biomass resources in various fields. It is conclusive from a literature survey of 113 articles (2003-2023) that biomass conversion into biochar can promote net zero emissions and CE in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Depending on their physico-chemical properties, biochar can become a suitable feedstock for CE. Biochar application as soil enrichment offsets 12% of CO2 emissions by land use annually. Adding biochar to soil can improve its health and agricultural productivity, while minimizing about 1/8 of CO2 emissions. Biochar can also sequester CO2 in the long-term and prevent the release of carbon back into the atmosphere after its decomposition. This practice could sequester 2.5 gigatons (Gt) of CO2 annually. With the global biochar market reaching USD 368.85 million by 2028, this work facilitates biochar with its versatile characteristics to promote carbon neutrality and CE applications. |
author2 |
School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology |
author_facet |
School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Liang, Xue Goh, Hui Hwang Gikas, Petros Chong, Kok-Keong Chew, Kit Wayne |
format |
Article |
author |
Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Liang, Xue Goh, Hui Hwang Gikas, Petros Chong, Kok-Keong Chew, Kit Wayne |
author_sort |
Kurniawan, Tonni Agustiono |
title |
Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
title_short |
Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
title_full |
Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
title_fullStr |
Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
title_full_unstemmed |
Challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
title_sort |
challenges and opportunities for biochar to promote circular economy and carbon neutrality |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/172446 |
_version_ |
1787136718317551616 |