A high priority in order to combat climate change is disposal of waste. In low-income countries, a large portion of biomass residues generated in the forestry, agricultural and industrial sectors could be usable, instead of being seen as waste. For instance, it could be converted into biochar, which is proven to have many environmental benefits. In Rwanda, the agricultural sector employs 80% of the population and accounts for 35% of GDP. This sector, together with later refinement of crops and forestry production, cause large amounts of residue that many times is considered as waste. In this report, a literature study was conducted to evaluate possible biochar production from agricultural and wood wastes in Rwanda. Characteristics that determine if a biomass could be suitable for a biochar production were identified as C, H, O, N, S, hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, ash and moisture content, residue-to-product ratio, and low heating value. These characteristics were assessed for the chosen Rwandan agricultural and wood wastes, by compiling values from published reports. The result shows that there are large volumes of residues that have potential for biochar production instead of being seen as waste in Rwanda. Biochar production from these wastes could enable environmental benefits for Rwanda, although further investigation of each single biomass could be needed in order to see if it is practically, technically and financially possible to do in reality.

Skanska, Sweden’s leading project development and construction groups, is increasingly striving for innovative solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations and close the loop on waste materials. The company has expressed interest in investing in a pyrolysis plant in the Stockholm region to produce biochar out of wood waste from construction sites. Biochar, a charcoal-like substance, is produced through thermochemical decomposition of biomass. Recently recognized as a negative emissions technology thanks to its ability to act as a carbon sink, and with its many properties and applications, biochar has in recent years become an increasingly valued product on the Nordic market. However, the magnitude with which biochar production mitigates climate change depends on a number of parameters. The present thesis seeks to assess the potential of biochar production at Skanska and use for urban soils to reduce the company’s GHG emissions, and puts results in perspective with Skanska’s sustainability targets. Using the GHG Protocol for Project Accounting, and through a life-cycle perspective, the thesis examines whether biochar production results in a higher climate gain compared to the continuation of current activities, i.e. the treatment of wood waste through incineration for energy recovery. The results show that reductions in emissions depend on a number of factors including biochar stability, biochar yield, the availability of excess heat from the pyrolysis process and its use for district heating, and most importantly, the type of fuel substituted by waste wood for energy production. Ultimately, the quality, quantity, and geographic distribution of wood waste produced by Skanska determines the viability of this project, and this information should be carefully compiled by the company.

Biochar represents a new approach to fight global warming through its ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by carbon fixation. It has been proven to be efficient in increasing harvest through the effects of increasing WHC, pH level and the uptake of nutrients. Sweden has 12 biochar production facilities and therefore represents an interesting biochar developer. In this report, Different field studies on the use of biochar were compared both in Sweden and internationally. The field studies were identified based on crop type, soil type, climate, feedstock and pyrolysis method. Stockholm Stad was even observed as a consumer of biochar that is supplied by Stockholm Exergi in Sweden. Varying results have been observed on effects of biochar, mainly due to the different conditions in which it is applied.

Due to the variable effects of biochar on the observed factors, it is recommended for the capability to customise the biochar by choosing the specific pyrolysis method and the type of feedstock. To have a better understanding and ability to customise biochar more extensive information is needed on biochar use and application in different areas. Biochar seems to respond most effectively to nutrient poor soils in both agriculture and forestry. Tropical and boreal forest seem to benefit the most from biochar application compared to temperate zones.

Biochar is increasingly gaining momentum in the context of climate change mitigation and its production in Sweden could potentially become a large-scale system. Carbon stability in biochar is a crucial factor to assess its the carbon sequestration potential. Currently specific methodologies to assess biochar carbon site-specific stability are missing. This work aims at filling in part this knowledge gap assessing stability for Sweden specific soil conditions. Moreover, this work aims at assessing biomass feedstock availability for biochar production from a system perspective and aims at estimating biochar production and carbon dioxide removal potentials in Sweden. Preliminary carbon stability specific thresholds are provided for soils at 10°C temperature and, thus, representative for Sweden conditions. Carbon dioxide removal functions are obtained for different feedstock categories (woody, herbaceous, biosolids and animal waste) dependent on pyrolysis conditions (Highest Treatment Temperature), and conditions for maximum carbon removal are assessed. The need for future analysis in order to validate the presented results is highlighted. Future work should focus on collecting new experimental results of biochar mineralisation based on the requirements presented in this work. An opportunity mapping for biochar production system is provided, focusing on some aspects of the interaction of the former with existing systems (agricultural, energy production and waste management). From the results of the opportunity mapping, an inventory of the available feedstock for biochar production is presented including woody residues, sewage sludge, manure, garden waste and straw. From the available feedstocks, biochar production and carbon dioxide removal potentials are estimated to range respectively between 0.9 and 1.7 million tbiochar/year and between 2 and 4.2 million tons CO2 sequestered per year (in a 100 years perspective). In terms of carbon dioxide removal potential, biochar production can significantly contribute to the goals set by Sweden in terms of climate change mitigation and emission offsetting for 2030 and 2045, potentially covering all the measures needed from carbon sinks from forest and land. It was found that the most significant contribution derives from the availability of woody residues in Sweden, whose analysis should be prioritised for future assessment of feasibility of biochar large scale production.

Biochar, the solid product of thermal conversion of biomass with little or no available air, is acknowledged as a carbon dioxide removal technique and soil enhancer among other applications. Its potential soil enhancing properties consists of increased water and nutrient holding capacities, liming effects and sorption of pollutants. However, not all soils benefit equally from biochar amendments. The thesis aims to investigate the suitability of biochar applications to agricultural soils in Sweden and communicate the results visually with a biochar indication map, illustrating where biochar could serve the highest benefits as a soil improver. A literature review was carried out to analyse the soil enhancing opportunities of biochar applications, which determined that the criteria soil texture, nitrogen leaching, ground moisture, soil pH and soil organic matter (SOM) were suitable for the analysis in a Swedish context. Then, a multi-criteria analysis was conducted in ArcGIS, based on spatial data of these criteria. Each arable land block was assigned a biochar class, varying from high indication to no indication. Arable land was considered highly recommended for biochar applications if the soil texture was sandy and at least one of the soil criteria was beyond a limiting agronomic threshold. At the national level, high indication for biochar application occupied 24.2% (528 thousand ha) of the arable land in Sweden, while the remaining land had either medium indication (13%), low indication (3.5%) or no indication (59.3%). Despite spatial variations, all Swedish counties (with data coverage above 84%) had at least 2% of high indication arable land. In particular, 66.1% of Halland’s arable land showed high indication. In turn, Skåne had the largest area (148 thousand ha, 35.7%) with high indication for biochar applications. The corresponding biochar volume potential, at the national level, suggested that between 0.5 and 26.4 million tonnes biochar can be applied to arable land with high indication for biochar applications, given application rates between 1 and 50 tonnes/ha over a 20 year timeframe. This means that arable land in Sweden can accommodate for a future production of 500 000 tonnes per year, which was suggested as an upper limit in an inquiry from the Swedish government, if application rates remain below 20 tonnes/ha. The multi-criteria analysis performed includes several subjective choices and uncertain parameters (criteria combination, data accuracy, agronomic thresholds, and classification scheme). Therefore, the biochar indication maps cannot yet be used for farm- or field-level recommendations for biochar applications. Nonetheless, despite uncertainties, the national- and county- level indication maps may still provide interesting order of magnitude. More field experiments are needed in Sweden as well as a more detailed analysis. To be able to make more precise recommendations, the present analysis can be refined by connecting all criteria to physical agricultural mechanisms and to the properties of biochar, and by using spatial data with higher resolution or even field-level data. This said, models need to be validated with experimental data, which is to date, non- existent: controlled biochar field experiments are therefore needed in Sweden.