Abstract
To stabilize the climate crisis, greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions should reach net-zero within decades. Achieving this requires the removal of atmospheric CO2 to offset the emissions that are difficult to eliminate. Among the various methods of carbon removal(biological, chemical, and geochemical), a large-scale land-based biological CO2 removal practice, such as carbon sequestration through biochar, is necessary. For this purpose, the quality standard for biochar should be first established by the government. Europe developed the European Biochar Certificate(use: soil carbon sequestration and material·products), a voluntary biochar industrial standard, and the United States formed the International Biochar Initiative, which is used internationally. For regulation, biochar is classified according to its use as general(organic carbon content and H/Corg ratio) and toxic(heavy metals etc.). The standard for each type needs to be established by the government, and only materials meeting the standard should be recognized as a GHG sink as per the GHG inventory of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a carbon market with further possibility for growth, only biochar that satisfies such certification standards must be exchanged during emission trading. Under these circumstances, the European Commission established a Carbon Removal Certification Regulation and proposed four certification criteria(quantification, additionality, long-term storage, and sustainability). In conclusion, a certification standard must be first set by the government before quantitatively identifying the contribution of biochar to carbon removal.
