Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Rethinking biochar: black gold or not?

Nature Reviews Materials volume 9, pages 4–5 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Biochar is proposed as a promising solution for sustainable development, but proper risk management and careful evaluation are essential when considering its use. It is crucial to acknowledge the limitations of biochar and recognize that it is not a magic bullet for green technologies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Risks associated with the use of biochar.

References

  1. Lehmann, J. A handful of carbon. Nature 447, 143–144 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Natasha, N. et al. Influence of biochar on trace element uptake, toxicity and detoxification in plants and associated health risks: a critical review. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 52, 2803–2843 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Xiang, L. et al. Potential hazards of biochar: the negative environmental impacts of biochar applications. J. Hazard. Mater. 420, 126611 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lehmann, J. et al. Biochar in climate change mitigation. Nat. Geosci. 14, 883–892 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lian, F. & Xing, B. Black carbon (biochar) in water/soil environments: molecular structure, sorption, stability, and potential risk. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 13517–13532 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. He, Y. et al. Effects of biochar application on soil greenhouse gas fluxes: a meta‐analysis. GCB Bioenergy 9, 743–755 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. He, M. et al. Waste-derived biochar for water pollution control and sustainable development. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 3, 444–460 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhang, P. et al. Functional biochar and its balanced design. ACS Environ. Au 2, 115–127 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Senthil, C. & Lee, C. W. Biomass-derived biochar materials as sustainable energy sources for electrochemical energy storage devices. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 137, 110464 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52200074, 51821006 and 52192684) for supporting this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Guangcai Tan & Han-Qing Yu

Authors
  1. Guangcai Tan
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Han-Qing Yu
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Han-Qing Yu.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tan, G., Yu, HQ. Rethinking biochar: black gold or not?. Nat Rev Mater 9, 4–5 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00634-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00634-1

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing