2. Biz Network July/August 2021 37-64.qxp_Chamberlink 30/06/2021 11:39 Page 52
SUSTAINABLE EAST MIDLANDS
www.emc-dnl.co.uk/sustainability
University leads fight against climate change
Bichar could store carbon from the atmosphere
The University Nottingham is to lead the world’s largest trial to evaluate the viability of a material called biochar to store carbon from the atmosphere – potentially countering the impact of climate change. The £4.5m project is one of five UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded demonstrators investigating the adoption of greenhouse gas removal technologies to cut CO2 emissions at a scale that may help Britain reach its net zero target by 2050. Work on the four-and-a-half-year project began in May and field trials will be conducted at arable and grassland sites in the Midlands and Wales, as well as former mines, railway embankments where engineering work has resulted in loss of vegetation, and woodlands.
‘The aim is to take carbon from atmospheric emissions and trap it in the biochar’ Biochar is a charcoal-like substance produced by heating organic biomass from agriculture and forestry waste in the absence of oxygen (pyrolysis) to make it carbon-rich and chemically-stable. At present, in the UK, it is produced on an extremely small-scale in kilns and it is mainly sold as a mulch for horticulture. It is similar to commercial-grade charcoal used in barbecues but, ideally, should be produced at higher temperatures to produce carbon that will be stable over hundreds of years. However, its effectiveness, cost, social acceptability and limitations need to be better understood and proven at scale. Project lead Professor Colin Snape, director of the university’s Centre of Doctoral Training in 52
business network July/August 2021
The University is trialling use of the charcoal-like substance
Carbon Capture and Storage and Cleaner Fossil Energy, said: “The aim is to take carbon from atmospheric emissions and trap it in the biochar. “That carbon will then be locked in the soil for centuries, if not millennia, so its sustainable production could be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. “However, we need to get a detailed and accurate picture of the longevity and stability of biochar carbon in soils to ensure it has no detrimental impact.”
MEANWHILE, ANOTHER GROUP of scientists at the University of Nottingham and University of Warwick has been awarded £4.8m funding for a project in which they will aim to create cleaner and greener chemical processing methods for everyday products. The five-year, business-led research programme will investigate how to make chemicals used in fuel additives for cars, personal care products, clothing and hand sanitisers more environmentally sustainable.
