Biochar as multi-purpose sustainable technology: experiences from projects in Tanzania

LUNETs Motstridiga ambitioner för användning av biomassa - Sverige, Tanzania och världen Environment, Development and Sustainability. 23:5182-5214

Biochar was recently included as a promising negative emissions technology (NET) in theSpecial Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C published by the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change. Unlike other NETs, it can potentially be used to mitigate global climatechange while adding to local resilience in countries highly exposed and sensitive toimpacts of climate change, such as least-developed countries (LDCs). The study is as anempirical contribution to the, as of yet, underdeveloped literature on deployment of negativeemissions technologies in LDCs in general and on biochar use in developing countriesand LDCs specifically. Nine historical and existing biochar projects in Tanzania aremapped in order to analyse problems, goals and common trade-offs associated with smalltomedium-scale biochar production in LDCs. The mapping is based on a literature anddocument study, interviews with project actors, and on-site visits to biochar projects during2019. The paper gives support to the observation made in the biochar literature thatwhile biochar has many potential socio-economic and environmental benefits, combiningthem in one single project is difficult. It is concluded that implementing biochar projects inTanzania will likely involve trade-offs between the development and subsistence strategiesand needs of local communities, the motivational forces of different project participants,and the uneven regulatory capacity of the state. We end by reflecting on the use of biocharprojects to offset carbon emissions made elsewhere.

Biochar, Least-developed country, Tanzania, Biowaste, Negative carbon dioxide emissions, minusutsläpp, Economic Information Systems, Ekonomiska informationssystem