Resources
Biochar & carbon, defined.
A plain-language reference for the soil, biochar, and carbon-removal terms used across Cold Steppe.
Glossary
Key terms
- Biochar
- A stable, carbon-rich solid made by heating biomass (such as rice hulls or wood) in a low-oxygen process called pyrolysis. Added to soil, it can store carbon for a long time while improving soil function.
- Pyrolysis
- Heating organic material to high temperatures with little or no oxygen so it breaks down without burning. Pyrolysis converts biomass into biochar, gases, and heat rather than ash.
- Feedstock
- The raw biomass fed into the pyrolysis process - for Cold Steppe, primarily regional agricultural residues such as rice hulls, corn stover, and woody material.
- Rice-hull biochar
- Biochar made from rice hulls. Because rice hulls are naturally high in silica, this biochar carries a distinctive mineral (silica) fraction in addition to its carbon.
- Biogenic carbon
- Carbon that originates from recently living biomass rather than fossil sources. Using biogenic carbon in materials or industry can lower or reverse net carbon emissions.
- Cation exchange capacity (CEC)
- A measure of a soil's ability to hold and exchange positively charged nutrients. Higher CEC means the soil retains more nutrients and water - biochar helps raise it, acting 'like a sponge.'
- Soil organic carbon
- The carbon held in soil organic matter. Building it improves fertility, structure, and water retention, and is the basis for many soil-carbon conservation programs.
- Carbon dioxide removal (CDR)
- Activities that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it durably. Biochar is a recognized CDR pathway because it locks biomass carbon into a stable form.
- Durable (permanent) carbon removal
- Carbon removal that stays stored for a long time - typically centuries or more. Biochar's stability (often measured by its H:C ratio) is what makes it a durable removal method.
- Biochar carbon-removal credit
- A tradable credit representing a quantity of CO2 durably removed by producing and applying biochar, verified under a carbon-removal standard and issued on a registry.
- Environmental Attribute Credit (EAC)
- The marketable environmental benefit (such as carbon removal) associated with a product. EACs can stay attached to the physical material or be separated and sold independently.
- IBI certification
- Certification under the International Biochar Initiative program, which tests biochar against quality and safety thresholds (carbon content, surface area, heavy metals, and more).
- CPS 336
- USDA NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 336, 'Soil Carbon Amendment' - the federal standard under which biochar can be applied as a funded conservation practice.
- EQIP
- The USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides cost-share payments to producers who adopt approved conservation practices, including soil carbon amendments.
- RCPP
- The USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which funds conservation through partnerships - another pathway through which biochar application can be supported.
- Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
- A heat-to-power technology that turns recovered process heat into electricity, letting a pyrolysis facility generate dispatchable power from its own waste heat.
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