Navigating the Biochar Carbon Accounting Ecosystem: From Product Standards to Building Integration

Main Presenter:    Asfand Yar Munir 

Co-Authors:   Nikolaos Vlasopoulos     Sandra Boivin                                          

Biochar is rapidly emerging as a transformative component within the construction industry, serving most recently as a high-performance additive for asphalt and concrete systems. Unlike the short-term carbon cycle of raw biomass, which typically returns CO2 to the atmosphere within years through decay, biochar possesses a high degree of chemical stability. This stability ensures that the sequestered carbon remains stored in a solid state for hundreds to thousands of years, effectively decoupling it from the active carbon cycle when integrated into inert environments like construction materials.
Bridging voluntary carbon markets and strict construction compliance, the biochar industry must navigate the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework’s removal standards alongside the Construction Products Regulation’s mandatory environmental reporting. Consequently, validating biochar’s life cycle impact is no longer a peripheral benefit but a fundamental requirement for market entry and the broader adoption of biochar-integrated materials
This presentation covers the need for robust environmental reporting in the form of EPDs and highlights distinct methodological aspects where particular care is required to ensure integrity. The data used for the EPD must be from a representative one year period. Furthermore, the mandatory “Cradle-to-Grave” scope for biogenic products in EPDs must be respected. Throughout the production phase the high-GWP methane emissions should be tracked accurately. Crucially, declared biogenic content in EPDs must align strictly with lab reports. Finally, Biochar is often produced alongside co-products such as syngas, making them the choice of co-product allocation rules, an extremely important methodological approach which requires attention to detail. EPD Program Operators can play a crucial role where they can publish biochar-specific Product Category Rules (c-PCRs) to ensure compliance.
Different reporting systems i.e EPDs and EBC C-Sink certificates, utilize differing system boundaries that lead to divergent impact results, caution is recommended with comparing the results of EPDs with C-Sink certificates. Finally, while current EPD standards generally assume total carbon dioxide release at the end-of-life, preventing the declaration of net carbon storage storage, the presentations analyzes exceptions in building-level LCAs, specifically France’s RE2020 and Switzerland’s upcoming Minergie “Net-Zero-Building” label, which uniquely allow for partial carbon storage recognition.
The presentation concludes by highlighting the critical need for clearer instructions through the upcoming updates to the EN 15804 standard. By refining the methodologies for tracking biogenic carbon flows, these upcoming guidelines will provide the standardized clarity necessary to ensure that biochar’s environmental performance is consistently recognized across the European construction market.

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