US developer to open large Louisiana biochar plant next year

15 Feb 2024

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Project developer American BioCarbon plans to open one of the country's largest biochar facilities next year, able to produce more than 100,000 metric tonnes of biochar material, the company's co-founder told the US Biochar Initiative conference this week.

The US is undergoing a biochar production boom fuelled by a government scheme to subsidise application in soils, called the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and strong demand from buyers in the voluntary carbon markets.

American BioCarbon currently operates a pilot pyrolysis plant able to produce 3,000 tonnes a year of biochar and a pelletising unit with capacity of 15,000 t/year.

The facility was originally commissioned to make paper pulp out of bagasse waste - a byproduct of sugar production plentiful in Louisiana - and was then repurposed as a torrefaction unit producing pellets that resulted in a loss of $48 million for the investor, said Erwin Bogner, chief technical officer at American BioCarbon.

The developer rebuilt the facility in 2020 into a fully-fledged carbonisation system able to treat bagasse material at higher temperatures and produce biochar.

After operating the project as a pilot for the last three years, Bogner says the firm has a viable business model to expand biochar production to 107,000 t/year, making it the largest bagasse biochar plant in the US.

The facility will be located close to the Cora Texas sugar mill in Louisiana and will operate a special unit that separates and reclaims leafy material from harvested cane, thus reducing processing time for the sugar manufacturer and saving $1 million a year on costs.

Bagasse contains a lot of moisture, making it expensive to handle to produce biochar and requiring baling and pelletisation, said Bogner.

"If you get something for free, as you all know, when it says for free, it's never for free. It's not easy to store bagasse. It's not easy to handle it," said Bogner.

"The amount of bagasse available is incredible. Just in Louisiana, they have 11 sugar mills, 14.5 million tonnes of sugarcane production and about 45 million tonnes of bagasse is annually produced."

The facility will be fully commissioned in late 2025 and will undergo certification under Puro.earth for its carbon removal credits.

Bogner said the project was not built to optimise on biochar sale to ensure additionality - the proof that carbon finance is needed - instead relying on carbon credits.

The business will also sell excess heat and some bagasse pellets than can be used in agriculture, oil and gas, and power production, the executive said.

In Louisiana, an estimated 465,000 acres of sugar plantation is burned every year to get rid of the waste.