Summary/Abstract
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the issues involved in generating carbon offsets from the production and incorporation of biochar into soil. In Section 5, the paper provides a review of legislation on soil amendments and ownership of emission reductions. Due to the complexity of the subject at hand, the discussion is deliberately kept within the following constraints:
Only biochar produced from plant biomass is considered, and not from municipal solid waste (MSW), or from paper waste.
Only carbon offsets from soil biochar incorporation are considered, and not carbon offsets from fuel displacement associated with the energy potentially cogenerated during pyrolysis.
The primary geographical scope of the discussion is the United States, even though the paper integrates findings from foreign studies and production processes pioneered in different countries.