How Biochar Can Save the Planet

Biochar is being used to cut greenhouse emissions in industrial processes such as lead battery recycling, which has been one of the most successful environmental initiatives in US history.

Gopher Resource and the University of Minnesota have collaborated on an initiative, partially funded by the US Department of Defense, that replaces coke with carbon-neutral biochar in furnaces used during the recycling process.

This key replacement uses organic charcoal created from disease-infested ash trees and balsam fir, which could reduce Gopher Resource’s greenhouse emissions by up to 30%.

Key Points

  • The use of biochar in battery recycling could reduce greenhouse emissions in the recycling process by up to 30%
  • Based on Gopher Resource data, that would mean that the equivalent of 7.5 million batteries, or 90,000 tons of lead, would no longer enter the atmosphere, representing an unprecedented leap forward in controlling industrial emissions