Carbon sinks are part of the carbon cycle and have played a major role in the Earth’s climate since time immemorial. A carbon sink is a carbon reservoir that absorbs carbon and thus reduces the COâ‚‚ concentration in the atmosphere. Against the backdrop of man-made climate change and the urgent need to reduce COâ‚‚ in the atmosphere, they are of particular importance.
“Carbon sinks are indispensable for a successful climate protection policy”, is how the German Federal Environment Agency, Germany’s central environmental authority, classifies the importance of COâ‚‚ sinks.
In addition to natural sinks, such as forests or peatlands, technological carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions like Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) help to create more carbon sinks, which is essential for achieving climate targets. In this context, the COâ‚‚ storage potential, i.e. how safely and long-term the carbon is stored in the sinks, is of central importance, as it determines how effective and impactful the CDR solution is considered.
In the case of Biochar Carbon Removal, we are usually talking about carbon sinks in the soil, where the biochar and the carbon it contains is transferred into a COâ‚‚ sink via soil applications such as in agriculture or landscaping. Biochar can also act as a carbon sink through industrial applications, for example in concrete.