January 2025 Newsletter

News from the Global Biochar Industry

Did you miss the latest IBI Member feature on the blog? Explore how PyroCCS is empowering the Global South with biochar carbon removal.

Letter from the Team

My journey with climate change communications began in 2017, and I haven’t looked back since.  

There’s a science and an art to it, a balance between sharing the real harm and outlooks worsening of climate change impacts and highlighting the incredible solutions that encourage us to lean into hope. Hope is a verb, and it lies in the fact that we have all the solutions we need to address climate change — right here, right now. My passion for telling the stories of climate change solutions is rooted in the stories that I loved as a child, taking place in sci-fi and fantasy worlds so unlike the one I know. There is power in that escapism, but even more in building the sense of imagination; allowing myself (and all readers) to ask the question: "what if?" 

As 2025 begins, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in the fight against climate change. The year 2024 was officially declared the hottest on record, crossing the 1.5°C threshold for the first time. As extreme weather impacts happen across the world, it’s a reminder of the urgency of our collective work across all the industries and sectors addressing climate change. And it’s a reminder to stay rooted in that question: “what if?” What if the world operated differently, to value curricular systems and sustainability? What if we get it right?  

With so much ingenuity and growth happening in the biochar industry alone, IBI is leaning into the solutions you are all bringing to the table: like new biochar plants in development, groundbreaking research on biochar’s multi-faceted applications, and community-building projects to empower local farmers. 

2025 Virtual Graduate Lecture Series

Open to the Public — Join the Series

This bi-weekly series hosted by IBI, starting February 12, features lectures from top industry experts, graduate professors, and researchers covering diverse topics in biochar science and application.

Runs February – September 2025.

$1,200 USD participation fee.

With a fast-emerging industry, this series aims to facilitate cohesive biochar knowledge-sharing between graduate programs and optimize academia experiences around biochar. Explore the full schedule of guest speakers and lecture sessions. 

 Looking for your next big opportunity in biochar? IBI launched a brand-new Biochar Jobs Portal, created in partnership with CDRjobs!

From research and production to policy and carbon markets, this portal is an online hub featuring all jobs from IBI member companies and organizations. It’s a place to connect with the best opportunities in the biochar world.

Global Biochar Exchange: Japan

Are you ready for an up-close look at biochar innovation in action? Join us for a first-of-its-kind biochar event, in partnership with TOWING Co. Ltd in Japan in April 2025! 

Spots are limited—register your interest early to be the first to know when tickets go live. Registration opening soon!

Become an IBI Event Speaker or Sponsor – Apply Now!

We're seeking dynamic speakers and committed sponsors for our upcoming education programs. This is a unique opportunity to showcase your expertise, share groundbreaking ideas, and align your brand with global efforts to promote sustainable practices through biochar.

👉 Submit your speaker proposal

👉 Explore sponsorship opportunities

Welcome Board Member, Sebastian Manhart! 

Sebastian is the world’s most followed carbon dioxide removal (CDR) expert, providing daily market & policy insights to >37,000 followers. He is the Senior Policy Advisor of Carbonfuture, the leading platform for high-quality CDR credits. 

Read More →

Newly Elected Board Vice Chair, Harn Wei Kua

Having led and successfully completed several pioneering research works on biochar concrete and air filters, Harn’s vision is to help promote the use of biochar as a sustainable building material that reduces the carbon intensity of the building industry.

Partner and Member Updates

FEATURE: IBI Board Chair Lucia Brusegan writes on expanding the horizon of biochars for a sustainable future in an expert interview with the Bio360 Expo.  

OPPORTUNITY:  The European Biochar Industry Consortium's Biochar Summit 2025 has been announced! 10–11 June, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. Sign up to receive updates about the event. The call for abstracts period is open as well, accepting submissions through 24 January, 2025. 

EVENT: Save the date for the ILBI Biochar Masterclass in March, taking place in Mexico City (hybrid format). Featuring world-renowned experts Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph, this event will explore biochar’s potential in climate action, including mitigation, adaptation, and innovative engineering solutions.

OPPORTUNITY: The US Biochar Initiative is seeking abstracts for the 2025 North American Biochar Conference. Learn more and submit your abstract by 28 February.

NEWS: IBI Biochar Academy alumnus Takachar is featured for their work at the HIVE project in California — a collective ag site where 7+ growers and firms have operations, from biochar to agave. 

NEWS: IBI member Planboo announces a partnership with Solidaridad, Kvuno, and the Cotton Development Trust to drive sustainable agriculture in Zambia — they seek to equip smallholder farmers with skills for biochar production. 

NEWS: Biochar Today has launched new biochar podcast — listen now.  

Partner Newsletters to Explore

featuring opportunities, stories, and more

Australia and New Zealand Biochar Industry Group’s (ANZBIG) January newsletter

US Biochar Initiative's January newsletter

Subscribe to the German Biochar Association's monthly newsletter

Sign up for KlimateNet's monthly newsletter for professionals working on projects that reduce or remove emissions of greenhouse gases.

Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) news and stories

Carbon Business Council’s The Carbon Fix

Sign up for Carbonfuture’s Perspective newsletter

IBI Events Coming To a Location Near You

Join the interest lists for regional IBI biochar education trainings, currently in development, by clicking on the links below. Stay tuned for more education opportunities to be announced: 

• Japan [April 2025]
• Kenya [June 2025]
• Washington State, US [August 2025]

Have an event or project you’d like to collaborate on with IBI? Tell us here. 

Upcoming Biochar Events

FEBRUARY

5–6 February | Bio360 Expo

Nantes, France  

Visit the IBI and Spanish Biochar Association's partner booth in the exhibit hall: stand H36!   

12 February – September 2025 | Virtual Graduate Lecture Series

NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATION 

Virtual

Mid-February [Date TBA] | Joint webinar with IBI and CSI on the World Biochar Certificate standardization process 

Sign up to IBI's events and trainings email list to receive registration link

24 February – 1 March | 2025 Biochar Academy: Thailand

Chiang Mai, Thailand

MARCH 

7 March | ILBI Biochar Masterclass

Mexico City, Mexico (hybrid)

18–20 March | 2025 International Biomass Conference & Expo 

Georgia, US

25–27 March | North American Carbon World

California, US

Have a biochar industry event, job, or other news to share? Fill out our promotion request form for next month's newsletter.

Partner and Member Updates 

Welcome New and Renewing IBI Members!   

RENEWING SUSTAINING MEMBER

NEW BUSINESS MEMBER

RENEWING BUSINESS MEMBER

We're also welcoming 12+ new and renewing professional and student members! 

Become an IBI member today!

🌟 With an updated membership structure and benefits coming soon, joining as a member today will lock in current pricing tiers for one year. 

Biochar in the News

The latest industry news is quite char-ming, if you ask us!

AFRICA 

🌍 A new partnership aims to reshape Burundi's agriculture, energy, and climate technology industries by processing sweet sorghum into high-value products such as biochar. 

ASIA 

❗Google and an Indian startup have struck the largest biochar carbon removal deal ever.

💧 An innovative greywater project involving biochar wins the 2024 Smart India Hackathon. 

🚧 MASH Makes breaks ground on phase 2 of Asia’s largest carbon removal biochar facility in the Udupi District in India. 

📝 A recent study from Shanghai Jiao Tong University explored the effect of biochar on soil.

EUROPE 

🌱 Biochar is playing an important role in the control of the invasive species rhododendron in Ireland.  

🆕 CapChar has put together a new Biochar Carbon Code that is now in the phase of public consultation, designed to match an end-to-end solution for biochar developers.  

👜 E-commerce platform Shopify is partnering with MASHMakes to address its carbon footprint by purchasing 3,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits.

🌟 Swedish researchers have found that DDT-contaminated soils, when mixed with biochar, tend to regain fertility. 

📜 The World Economic Forum published a deep dive into the trade offs of different carbon removal technologies on the pathway to net zero – including biochar. 

NORTH AMERICA

🆕 Liferaft Carbon Capture has proposed a new biochar facility in Iowa, US. 

⚡ Grass Valley, California is one step closer to a potential biomass facility that would produce biochar for energy. 

✳️ The collaboration between the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and Orochem Technologies to produce green hydrogen from combining solar power and biochar is featured in a Top 5 list for green hydrogen projects in 2024.  

💰 Applied Carbon receives a $500K USD grant from the University of Utah for its mobile farm technology, which turns crop waste into biochar. 

❌ A nonprofit organization in Minnesota is using biochar to address buckthorn, an invasive species, and the usual strategy of open burn piles. 

🔬 Scientists in California have shown how materials such as concrete and plastic could store about half of the annual carbon emissions humans produce each year using technologies like biochar. 

⛔ Canadian scientists have found a way to trap ‘forever chemicals’ using biochar.

👀 Canada Nickel Company Inc. has been awarded $500,000 from the Government of Ontario to support the development of its nickel processing facility that will utilize biochar to replace conventional coal-based materials.  

☂️ A new stormwater filter media blends biochar, switchgrass, re-activated carbon, and calcium silica sand to tackle pollution during and post-construction.

Have biochar industry event, job, or other news to share?

Fill out our promotion request form for next month's newsletter.

Learn more about IBI Membership today!