A Legal Journey in the Life of Biochar in the EU: Assessing Opportunities and Challenges Through a Value Chain Approach

Abstract

Not many people will have encountered the word “biochar” in their daily lives, and not many will know what the word designates. Nevertheless, the term biochar has become – or seems to have become – the material (yes, biochar is a material) to look out for. In a nutshell, biochar is a carbonaceous, porous and very stable material created from the thermal conversion of biomass through i.a. pyrolysis and gasification processes, together with other interesting outputs (bio-oils (essentially biofuels) and (syn)gas). One of the most intriguing features of biochar is that it can be used for several applications: in agriculture as fertiliser or liming material, as a tool to remediate contaminated soils, but also in several high-end applications. It is considered a Negative Emission Technology (NET), which is the reason why it has gained so much attention in the last few years. When produced from waste materials, biochar can play a role in the circular economy, in particular in the circular use of biomass. For these reasons and because of its features, biochar is increasingly seen as one of the solutions to big challenges we are facing: climate change mitigation and decarbonisation efforts, resource efficiency and circular economy, pollution and the achievement of soil fertility and soil amelioration for food production. However, biochar production and use can also entail certain costs and risks. For example, it can result in the introduction of pollutants into soils, water and air, alteration of soil processes and functions, and long-term effects. Emissions of atmospheric pollutants and particulate matter, occupational exposure and pollutants in the food chain are also possible risks. In addition, when biochar is produced from virgin raw materials (e.g. wood from forests, fuel crops), there are also issues of competition for land and food production, land-use change, land grabbing and additional pressure on land and biodiversity. As such, biochar can be/is the object of regulatory measures. Indeed, appropriate legislation is needed to minimise harmful consequences and, at the same time, to ensure that its potential is fully exploited in view of the possible risks that biochar production and use entail on the one side and of its potential role in climate change mitigation, the circular bioeconomy, pollution control and remediation and soil amelioration on the other. Against this backdrop, this dissertation is meant to illustrate the legal journey of the life of biochar, employing a value chain approach to provide an assessment of opportunities and challenges for biochar in policy and law. In particular, the dissertation has a threefold purpose. The first objective is a scientific deep dive into biochar to understand what biochar is, what it does, and what it can be used for to assist the reader in understanding the benefits and risks of this technology to pave the way for the legal analysis. Second, at a more theoretical-conceptual level, this thesis aims to methodically situate biochar within the policy and legislation discourse, emphasising the consequences of the New European Green Deal and the relevance of biochar from a sustainability standpoint. The third goal is to analyse on a more systematic level the legal aspects of the biochar value chain and examine to what extent and how well EU environmental law is able to cover the different steps of the biochar value chain: preproduction and production, product phase, and use phase. The thesis concludes that biochar can be sustainably used and produced, but this would depend on several crucial circumstances along the value chain. This contribution also determines that there is a legal framework for biochar, which is composed of several instrumental pieces of legislation applicable to a specific part of the biochar value chain. Finally, this work also argues for specific amendments or changes to the legislation to better address the situation of biochar and other circular products and to better align biochar production and use with sustainability objectives.