Growing biomass with regenerative agriculture approaches becomes a solid and commercially mature opportunity by providing biofertilizers and a carbon negative solution and green energy, animal feed and biomaterials access to reduction costs. A growing bioeconomy in next 30 years becomes also influenced by carbon bonds reaching prices between 25 and 75 USD/tCO2 captured and/or sequestered. Biochar production and bio-coal filtering products take value added products between 400 and 2000 USD/ton and feedstock costs range 30 to 120 USD/ton. Coupled thermal applications are part of the system therefore allowing developers to process several fossil based products such as steel, cement or plastics into a lower footprint alternatives. Commercial applications are feasible and available in most markets with high level of demonstration (high Technology Readiness Index).

1. BIOENERGY CROPS LTD
Registered office Address:
16 Copse Wood Way
Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2UE
Reg.Nº 08155605
All Rights Reserved | © BioenergyCrops Ltd. 2012
REMOVING CARBON OUT OF THE AIR
Biomass and biochar production systems
A commercial and fully matured bio-energy business model with
carbon capture and storage (BECCS)

3. PAST 200 YEARS
- Fossil economy (CO2 is taken from ground to the atmosphere),
for energy, chemicals, plastics, cement, food processing, tourism
and transportation.
- Low access to energy grids creates poverty and requires decades of
massive investments (e.g. gas/oil pipes)
- Desertification, erosion, degraded lands, deforestation
- Most biomass degrades and releases CO2 due to respiration,
wildfires, farmers combustion on the field and other common
practices
RECENT SCENARIO
- Promotion of many renewables (wind, solar,
geothermal, biomass heat&power, biofuels) with
limited potential in carbon sequestration
- Several biofuels have been criticized due to a low
efficiency or high environmental impacts (e.g. low
yielding oil crops replacing native forest).
- Most bioenergy is carbon neutral or eventually
emitting less CO2 than coal, fuel oil and gas.
- Biomass and bioenergy collecting residues mostly
with limited revegetation with perennials or
reforestation.
- Biomass reforestation and revegetation is slow and
expensive, often not profitable for timber or power
to the grid
A BIOBASED - CARBON ECONOMY
- Large-scale revegetation and reforestation programs by
humans becomes a major strategy
- Massive carbon sequestration through biomass
capture and carbon storage models for industries
- Land conservation approaches. Degraded sites and
abandoned/marginal lands are considered to be
restored through resilient and certified alternatives
of crops and trees to replace current negative trends.
- Carbon is captured by fast growing and biodiverse
cropping systems and analogue agroforestry aimed to
produce energy or biomaterials and biochar as a co-
product
- No fossil fuels taking CO2 from ground to the air
- Regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, organic
products. Biochar as soil conditioner.
- Wild fires are prevented through biomass waste and
fuel collection in fragile ecosystems
- Biomass heat promoting agr-industries and food
processing
- 17 Sustainable Development Goals being promoted
BIOCHAR

5. A NEW BIOENONOMY
The growing demand for conventional biomass to energy projects driven by the bio-based
technologies can potentially challenge the sustainability of biomass supply, negatively impacting
biodiversity and ecosystem services.
There are trade-offs between the many possible uses of biomass, and a better understanding about
biomass mobility within safe ecological limits.
Eurostat data of 2016 show that the turnover of the total bioeconomy, including the food and
beverage and primary sectors, resulted in 2.3 trillion EUR in the EU-28. Roughly half of the
turnover is accounted for by the food and beverage sector, almost a quarter is generated by the
primary sectors (agriculture and forestry). The other quarter is generated by the so-called bio-based
industries, such as chemicals and plastics, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper products, forest-based
industries, textiles, biofuels and bioenergy.
In 2016, the bioeconomy employed 18.6 million people. Primary biomass production, mainly
agriculture plus forestry and fishery, generates a more than half of those jobs (55%) but a low
turnover (20%).

6. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
A sustainable bioeconomy will require less natural resources or increase the total planted
and afforested/reforested area. It is based on the wise, resource-efficient use of renewable
natural resources and recyclable materials.
The member countries of the United Nations, including the United States, have committed
to the use of bio-based fuel in conjunction with higher bio-based blends, and recognize the
environmental and economic potential for bioproducts, biomaterials, and renewable
chemicals which are key components of the bioeconomy.
The bioeconomy is the transformation of natural resources such as plants into commercial
and industrial products including food, fuels, or chemicals. We use the term “bioprocess”
to refer to the activities undertaken by companies to make this transformation possible.
Companies utilizing bioprocess to make bioproducts play a crucial economic role in any
country, as the benefits of integrating bioprocesses in a business model include but are not
limited to:
* Reducing pollution
* Capturing local value
* Fostering economic development
* Creating agricultural opportunity
* Making countries more self-sustainable

7. BIOENERGY CROPS LTD
Registered office Address:
16 Copse Wood way
Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2UE
Reg.Nº 08155605
All Rights Reserved | © BioenergyCrops Ltd. 2012

8. WHAT IS BIOCHAR ANYWAY?
“Charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in the soil as a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere”.
Biochar is made by heating biomass to a temperature of 400 – 800°C under the absence of oxygen. The
process used is called pyrolysis. The resultant material is characterized by high specific surfaces of more
than 300 m2 per gram, distributed over countless nano-, micro-and meso-pores. The ability of these pores
to store water makes biochar a very efficient medium for storing moisture. The pores also trap large
quantities of practically immobile air; with the result that biochar constitutes one of the best currently
known insulation materials.

10. BIOREFINERIES REVERSING CLIMATE CHANGE
Business models can be adapted to a soil regenerative business model coupled to
renewable energy, biomaterials or advanced biofuels.
A decentralized operation with a small or large scale biorefinery includes the
sustainable production of its own feedstock to be processed into high value
added marketable products which may simply produce clean energy or biochar,
but also be integrated to food and beverage industries, cement, steel, or many
other industries which require to reduce footprint and meet climate change
standards required.

11. Source: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com

12. SOIL REGENERATION TROUGH BIOMASS CROPPING SYSTEMS
Perennial bioenergy crops give us the opportunity to move into a greening bioconomy. With a global
population being stabilized by 2050, the world will face the meaningful challenge of land restoration
and carbon sequestration.
Even if we turned off every fossil fuel combustion source today, we will still move to climate chaos.
We need to stop putting our greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to be sure. We also need to bring
CO2 back home where it came from.
Soil regeneration is compatible with biomass productivity by trees and perennial grasses which can be
conbined with legumes, biochar and compost as soil amendment and reforestation programs. The
resulting products will include green energy, charcoal, biofrtilizers, biomaterials for construction, fibers,
bioplastics, graphene and several other innovative products that can replace most products included in
a fossil economy.

13. MINING SECTOR AND RECLAMATION LANDS
Mining sector may now have a possible way to monetize soil regeneration in degraded
lands. While deforested areas can only produce high yields under certain methods, our
solutions sequester massive amounts of CO2, produce energy or bio-products creating
income in social inclusive models.
Mining companies drive economic growth and progress, but can contribute significantly
to environmental degradation if their operations are not carefully managed. As a result,
the recent 2 decades have witnessed a global surge in research on post-mining landscape
restoration, yielding a suite of techniques including physical, chemical, biological (also
known as phytoremediation) and combinations.

14. MINING SECTOR AND RECLAMATION LANDS
There is a growing interest in converting marginal lands to bioenergy crop production instead
of using high quality croplands which could jeopardize food security and soil quality.
Finding plentiful and proper land for production of biomass is one of the most important tasks
in bioenergy sustainability. One potential solution to competition for land and other resources
is the use of marginal land for bioenergy crop production.
Many mining projects include land restoration alternatives. Frequently, damaged lands are
cultivated or reforested in the framework of social responsibility to protect or rehabilitate soils.
In this regard, biomass to energy or even agri-industrial projects may be interesting as they
could create income by restoring mine lands
Mining projects can develop land regeneration strategies by the promotion of biomass cropping
systems and soil restoration through intercropped perennial grasses and legumes, agroforestry,
alley cropping and afforestation activities. The outcoming production of biochar can be
coupled to heat and power, biofules, biogas, biomaterials and be used as biofertilizers for the
same land used for biomass production, or as in those cases where waste materials are
sufficiently available in the region, to produce healthy food and horticulture. The resulting
process combines green energy, land restoration and high value added products which can also
be synergetic with rural development by helping communities while promoting rural jobs in the
area. Thermal energy can also be used to dry fruits or enhance value in food products
Therefore, social responsibility programs in mining sector can contract agricultural companies,
biobased technology providers including boilers, gasifiers, pyrolizers or charcoal making units
and contribute with land regeneration by making profits..

15. 2.9 BILLION HECTARES NOT EXPECTED FOR
FOOD PRODUCTS (FAO)
Land degradation is due to misuse of the resource (soil and
vegetation) beyond the recuperative resilience of the ecosystem.
The causes of this misuse are population pressures that have
resulted in overgrazing, wrong cultivation practices, and
excessive deforestation for cultivation, grazing and woodfuel.
Corrective measures deemed necessary and justifiable can
succeed only if they are formulated and then carried out within
the socio-economic set-up to restore the ecological balance.
Biomass plantations on degraded lands can help restore and
reclaim such lands while supplying significant amounts of
bioenergy. They can also provide employment opportunities,
ecosystem services and carbon storage. As degraded land can be
challenging and economically unattractive for food crop
cultivation, planting it with high-yielding wood or grass species
can allow bioenergy to be extracted without conflicting with
food production.
When degraded land has relatively little planted on it,
introducing bioenergy crops that absorb carbon as they grow can
also enhance removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Growing
wood on degraded land can further serve to curb unsustainable
wood extraction from local forests.
As in the 2016 study, this update highlights the contribution of
the often-underrated bio-based industries. These bio-based
industries demonstrate a sizeable turnover of about 700 billion
EUR and employ 3.6 million people in the EU-28 in 2016. In the
bio-based chemical industry alone, turnover amounted to around
38 billion EUR.
While previous deforestation, desertification and incurred for
centuries in land degradation, a total amount of 2.9 billion
hectares are reported by FAO to be not required for food
production in the upcoming decades based on the productivity
and demographic expansion expected.

16. PERENNIAL BIOENERGY CROPS FIXING SOILS
The sustainable use of bioenergy presents a major opportunity to
address climate change by reducing fossil carbon dioxide emissions.
Practically all bioenergy systems deliver large greenhouse gas
savings if they replace fossil-based energy causing high greenhouse
gas emissions and if the bioenergy production emissions –
including those arising due to land use change – are kept low.
Most solutions suggested and implemented by our team include the
production of biobased materials from dedicated perennial species
including not a miracle crop or single mono-crop species but a
biodiverse stand of species, contour farming techniques and
resilient agriculture approaches. The cultivation of crops for
feedstock production requires tailored models and farming
alternatives for specific site conditions. Our team may select
specific seed-stock species with perennial habit and provide
capacity building services when developing nurseries, contract
agreements with farmers and cooperatives, or owned farm
enterprises. Biomass cropping systems may combine nitrogen fixing
legumes, soil amendments and organic farming methods.
Specifically for bioenergy, integration of
different perennial grasses and short-rotation woody crops has
been suggested as a way of remediating many environmental
problems, including biodiversity loss, erosion, nutrient leaching and
wildfires.
Biomass cropping systems require of optimized logistic models and
specific equipment which needs to be specifically designed for the
needs of biobased industries.

18. CARBON IS CHEAPER WHEN CAPTURED FROM THE AIR
A typical annual productivity ranging 200-400 wet tons (per hectare) of biomass can be delivered by today’s highest
yielding perennial grasses in the tropics. This can totalize between 100 and 150 tons of CO2 from the air which is
equivalent to 10-30 tons of coal in the form of biochar. Production costs without considering carbon credits (today
25USD/CO2 ton) range 150-170 USD/ton. Coal stocks and biochar prices range 300 to 2000 USD/ton in global
commodity markets. High productivity, low feedstock costs and resilient methods involving regenerative agriculture
which sequester massive amounts of CO2 each year give the opportunity to restore soil fertility and produce large
amounts of biomass. The coupled production of energy and biochar gives an opportunity for industries to reduce
their emissions and produce their own clean energy at the time they produce a “green” coal which can replace fossil
coal that has been stored belowground for thousands of years.
Cooling, perennial and regenerative:
Non-invasive grasses (sterile).
Intercropped nitrogen fixing legumes as companion crops
Crop lifetime = 7-20 years (perennial system)
No agri-chemicals – organic soil amendments
40 to 70 dry tons/ha produced annually
15-17 Gigajoules per dry ton (heating value)
Equivalent to 640 to 1120 gigajoules/ha delivered as solid fuel
Approx. 10 to 30 tons/ha of biochar are produced
Facilities produce green energy and carbon to markets
Part of the biochar remains underground as soil amendment
(2-10 tons/ha) and soil fertility increases for long term

19. CARBON NEGATIVE
PRODUCTS AND MARKETS

20. BIOCHAR, CHARCOAL AND ACTIVATED CARBON
Biochar is a carbon-rich solid that is derived from biomass (organic matter from plants ) that is heated in a limited oxygen environment.
Biochar is intended for agricultural use, and is typically applied as a soil amendment, which is defined as any material that is added to soil
to improve its physical properties, such as water and nutrient retention.
Charcoal is also a carbon-rich solid that is derived from biomass in a similar manner. Charcoal is generally intended for heating or
cooking, and is commonly associated with barbequing.
Activated carbon is a carbon-rich solid that is derived from biomass or other carbonaceous substances such as coal or tar pitch, using
pyrolysis. In the process, a carbon material is also “activated” by processes that greatly increase the surface area of the material, allowing it
to capture (or “adsorb”) a larger quantity of molecules. This high adsorption capability allows activated carbon to be effective at removing
contaminants from water and air, which is why activated carbon is typically intended for remediation or purification projects.

21. TORREFIED BIOCOAL
The torrefaction (or depolymerization) of biomass is a thermo-chemical process aiming to eliminate water and alter part of the organic matter of biomass to break down its fibers. Torrefied biomass (or
bio-coal) offers a number of benefits, including high energy density, hydrophobia, and increased grindability.

22. BIOCHAR AS SOIL CONDITIONER
Biochar can be used directly as a replacement for pulverized coal as a fuel. But one of major
distinctions between biochar and charcoal (or char) is that the former is produced with the intent to
be added to a soil as a means of sequestering carbon and enhancing soil quality. When used as a soil
amendment, biochar has been reported to boost soil fertility and improve soil quality by raising soil
pH, increasing moisture holding capacity, attracting more beneficial fungi and microbes, improving
cation exchange capacity (CEC), and retaining nutrients in soil.
Biochar applied includes inoculation using enhanced micro-organisms in fermentation devices and blends
with compost and other raw materials. A resulting back soil plenty or organic matter and living micro-
organisms reduces the need of fossil based chemical fertilizers such as urea or ammonia nitrate and provides
sufficient potassium and phosphorous to meet biomass cropping system nutritional requirements when
delivering organic biomass for energy, biomaterials or just more biochar.

24. APPLICATION ON THE SOIL
When it is added to soil, biochar has generally been shown to be beneficial for growing crops; additionally
biochar contains stable carbon (C) and after adding biochar to soil, this carbon remains sequestered for
much longer periods than it would in the original biomass that biochar was made from. Crop yield
improvements with inoculated and biologically “active” biochar has been demonstrated repeatedly for
acidic and highly weathered tropical field soils (Lehmann et al., 2003; Rondon et al., 2007; Steiner et al.,
2007; Kimetu et al., 2008), and there is new data on biochar uses in temperate soils of higher fertility (Laird,
2009; Husk and Major, 2010) but also on alkaline soil conditions where biochar has stabilized pH and
improved water and nitrogen holding capacities. While many reports on biochar trials exist in the scientific
literature, the practice of applying it to soil in commercial farm or other ―real lifeǁ operations is just
beginning, and no widely accepted guidelines currently exist.

25. CARBONIZER EQUIPMENT
Modern technologies with commercial equipment offer a wide range of opportunities when coupling energy
and biochar production at variable scales and costs. Mobile equipment and optimized logistic systems are also
optional. Pyrolysis process in kilns are flexible in terms of feedstock quality and moisture levels are acceptable
even if biomass is relatively wet (50% dry matter content). Different technology options include biochar and
energy but also syn-gas and liquid biofuels such as “pyr-oil” which can be used locally or become exported. Set
up, operate, or tend continuous flow or vat-type equipment; filter presses; shaker screens; centrifuges;
condenser tubes; precipitating, fermenting, or evaporating tanks; scrubbing towers; or batch stills. These
machines extract, sort, or separate liquids, gases, or solids from other materials to recover a refined product.
Includes dairy processing equipment operators.

26. FILTERING APPLICATIONS AND BIOCHAR AND ACTIVATED CARBON
When filtering water, charcoal carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, particles such as sediment, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), taste and odor. They are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and
dissolved inorganic substances.
Almost all water contaminants can be filtered with activated carbon or biochar made from the common coconut shells, and ALL contaminants (including fluoride) can be filtered with activated carbon or biochar made
from bones. The easiest way for those of us in urban or suburban areas to use these filtering materials is in an under counter multi-stage system. The second easiest way is to use these materials in a premade gravity system
such as the Berkey system, and the hardest and most ecologically friendly way to use these materials is in a slow sand biofilter/biochar adsorber.
Escherichia coli (E. Coli)
While biofilters are generally ineffective in removing bacteria from storm water, biofilters amended with biochar show great promise for E. Coli removal (e.g. Mohanty and Boehm 2015, Mohanty and Boehm 2014,
Mohanty et al 2014). Mohanty et al (2014) found that “Compared to sand, biochar not only retained up to 3 orders of magnitude more E. coli, but also prevented their mobilization during successive intermittent flows.”

27. PERI URBAN AND URBAN WASTE MATERIALS
One of the better-known combined-heat-and biochar projects is known as the Stockholm Biochar Project.
An initial pilot plant used a pyrolysis technology from Germany (Pyreg GmbH) to convert green waste from
the city into heat that was utilized in the district heating system, and biochar that was used for urban tree
planting and stormwater management. Based on the success of the pilot, the system is being replicated in
other cities in Sweden, Europe and beyond.

28. BIOASPHALT: BIOCHAR AS A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ASPHALT BINDER-
MODIFIER
Biochar blended at 10% by weight of the asphalt results in decreases in temps ranging from
300C — 500C, then increases above 500C, but biochar reduces that temperature susceptibility
in asphalt binders. Biochar provides a high rutting resistance, meaning it requires replacement
less often because of damage. The porous structure and rough surface of bio-char lead to larger
adhesion interaction in asphalt binder than the smooth flake graphite. As a result, the bio-char
modified asphalts had better high-temperature rutting resistance and anti-aging properties than
the graphite modified asphalt, especially for the binders with the smaller-sized and higher
content of bio-char particles. Furthermore, the asphalt binder modified by the bio-char with
sizes less than 75 µm and about 4% content could also achieve a better low-temperature crack
resistance, in comparison to other modified asphalt binders. Thus, this type of bio-char particles
is recommended as a favorable modifier for asphalt binder.
1.6 billion tons of asphalt is poured every year. At 10 percent biochar, that industry would use
160 million tons, or 89 MtC. It is still a long way from the 5.6 GtC needed for net neutrality.

29. THERMOELECTRIC POWER STATIONS TO REDUCE FOOTPRINT
Thermoelectric companies considering a reduced carbon footprint may have several synergies with
greenhouses as CO2 enrichment for horticulture. However a profitable alternative based on biochar
produced by processing horticultural waste materials and other biomass such as fruit pruning can be
provided as a carbon negative soil amendment with tested results for farmers when producing organic
food or reducing nitrogen, potassium and water annual bills. This is based on the fact biochar as soil
amendment not only represents a carbon storage and actual sequestration but also an effective way to
increasingly hold water and nutrients for long term while preventing agricultural emissions and drought
effects.

30. STORMWATER
CONTROL
Low impact development
(LID) systems are increasingly
used to manage storm water,
but they have limited capacity
to treat storm water—a
resource to supplement
existing water supply in
water-stressed urban areas.
To enhance their pollutant
removal capacity, infiltration-
based LID systems can be
augmented with natural or
engineered geo-media that
meet the following criteria:
they should be economical,
readily available, and have
capacity to remove a wide
range of storm water
pollutants in conditions
expected during intermittent
infiltration of storm water.
Biochar can adsorb
pollutants, improve water-
retention capacity of soil,
retain and slowly release
nutrients for plant uptake,
and help sustain microbiota in
soil and plants atop; all these
attributes could help improve
removal of contaminants in
storm water treatment
systems.

32. NOVEL BIOCHAR-CONCRETE COMPOSITES
One of many man-made sources of CO2 production; cement industry has a significant role in producing CO2 through production, processing and
preparation phase adding ap- proximately 7% of total world's production of CO2.
Close to 50 kilograms (110 lb) of wood waste can be utilized for every ton of concrete fabricated. Most construction firms typically require 0.5
cubic meter of concrete for every square meter of floor area (17.6 cu ft per 10.7 sq ft). This translates to around six tons of wood waste being
recycled to build a typical four-room HDB unit with a floor area of 100 square meters (1,076 sq ft).
Biochar prepared from waste biomass can be used to improve the flexural strength and splitting tensile strength of conventional concrete at certain
mix de- signs. Biochar can be potentially a suitable material where early of long term influence of biochar in its strength development and de- tailed
durability studies can be considered where biochar might have the potential to reduce shrinkage and carbonation resistance.

33. A CONCRETE SOLUTION
Worldwide, the construction industry is one
of the sectors in which carbon dioxide
(CO2) emission is a serious concern,
because of energy intensive processes
involved in manufacturing
of cement and release of CO2 during the
process itself. According to an estimate,
about one ton
of CO2 is released into the atmosphere
during manufacturing of one ton of
Portland cement
In combination with clay, but also with lime
and cement mortar, biochar can be used as
an additive for plaster or for bricks and
concrete elements at a ratio of up to 80%.
This blending creates inside walls with
excellent insulation and breathing
properties, able to maintain humidity levels
in a room at 45 – 70% in both summer and
winter. This prevents not only that the air
inside the rooms become too dry which is a
potential cause of respiratory problems and
allergies, but prevents also condensation
from forming around thermal bridges and
on outside walls which would lead to the
formation of mold.

35. FIBERS AND COMPOSITES AS A CO-PRODUCT

36. FLY ASH BRICKS
As by-products of energy generation fly ash and
furnace bottom ash are easily accessible, readily
available materials which reduce the use of finite
raw materials and avoid the resource intensive
process involved in their manufacture. Using fly
ash and furnace bottom ash can therefore lower
the embodied carbon of products significantly and
actually improve technical performance.

37. NEW ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTS
Adding small amounts of biochar in any product can
contribute with a considerable reduction of its footprint.
Some new products emerging now include personal care,
pets, pillows, paints, plasters, glasses, tires, batteries, inks,
bags, containers and almost any product made of rubber.
The possibilities expand driven by the different markets and
new end-user requirements

39. Bioenergy Crops Ltd. is an international group focused on
regenerative agriculture applied to biobased industries
Director:
Emiliano Maletta (UK/Spain)
Team and collaborators
Charles Hefner (Dominican Republic/Brazil)
Tomas Gotthold (USA/Argentina/Perú/Brazil)
Luciano Valeri (Argentina/Paraguay)
Adrian Zappa (Argentina)
Enrique Riegelhaupt (Argentina/Mexico/Brazil)
Roman Molás (Poland)
Torsten Mandal (Denmark)
Hector Maletta (Perú)
Leonardo Gutson (Spain)
Ignacio Navarro (Spain/Greece)
And other 25 international experts working with us to promote
sustainable biomass cropping systems worldwide.
Partnerships across EU, LATAM, Africa and Asia
http://www.bioenergycrops.com/