Biochar Production

Articles/Websites

Grades9, 10, 11, 12, APEarth and Space Sciences

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Project Drawdown

Open Resource

What it is

This article introduces biochar as a climate solution and describes its costs, benefits, and feasibility.
Students will learn the specifics of biochar production, the benefits biochar has on the soil, and the carbon sequestration potential of biochar.

Teaching tips

Positives

This article is transparent about the study's limitations and is written in a scientific paper format.
The article includes a "What You Can Do" section with action items, such as using biochar as a soil amendment.

Additional Prerequisites

Students may need the terms pyrolysis, biomass, leaching, and others defined before reading the article.
Students should understand carbon sequestration and its importance.

Differentiation

This article can enhance an outdoor activity where students learn how to apply biochar to soil.
Students can use this article for an informative essay on different kinds of carbon sinks and their environmental importance.
This article can support a lesson on the biochar industry, its history, and its potential for positive impacts.
After reading the article, students can brainstorm ways to increase the production and implementation of biochar nationwide.
To make language arts connections, students can look at the origins of the term "silver bullet" used in the concluding paragraph and discuss its meaning in this context.

From the scientist review

This resource assesses upscaling biochar production as a carbon sequestration solution. The article analyzes two scenarios for impacts on carbon emissions, sequestration, and yield and considers the cost. This resource introduces biochar production, but more data and figures would make it more valuable. This resource is well-sourced, with several peer-reviewed references, and is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: Project Drawdown
Authors: Project Drawdown
Published: May 24, 2024
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2 + 8 more

Core

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.8Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

HS-LS2-4.Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
HS-LS4-2.Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
HS-ESS2-2.Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
HS-ESS3-4.Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
HS-CCC-Energyand Matter.3. Energy cannot be created or destroyed—only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

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