Nuffield Scholar Reports Back On Biochar’s Potential
27 October 2026, AU: Biochar-based opportunities adding up to 3 extra revenue streams to farm operations have been charted by South Australian Nuffield Scholar Paul McGorman. His report highlights that viable business cases exist but there are caveats regarding implementation.
Biochar could offer Australian growers a range of benefits, according to Paul McGorman’s Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship research.
His report explores how growers are using biochar and highlights how industry innovations enable pyrolysis reactors – which burn biomass at low oxygen to produce biochar – to generate income through energy production and carbon sequestration via international carbon credit markets.
Mr McGorman explains biochar first came to growers’ attention as a medium for improving soil structure and fertility well over a decade ago: “The results from that experience were mixed,” he says.
“The science then was not at the level needed to fully capitalise on investment. That has now changed.”
The Nuffield program proved the perfect platform for him to re-examine biochar on behalf of Australian primary industries.
A new business case
Mr McGorman’s analysis noted changes in biochar-related technology, including that companies now exist that manufacture biochar reactors that produce products customised to a broad range of applications, and these reactors do so reliably at scale and on demand.
These innovations have opened markets for biochar that extend well beyond soil improvement. Examples include urban green spaces and parkland maintenance, building materials (concrete, asphalt, insulation, steelmaking), water filtration and land remediation.
Furthermore, it’s not just the biochar itself that can generate income. High energy prices ensure that the syngas generated by the pyrolysis reactors is usable as an energy source.
However, the new standout earner, especially for larger biochar facilities, is the international carbon credit market.
“The shift to a low-carbon future has created an enormous need for carbon credits, with biochar considered among the most trusted of the carbon sequestration strategies in these markets,” Mr McGorman says.
Seeing viable new opportunities, Mr McGorman put together a series of travel tours that covered reactor manufacturers through to agricultural businesses that profitably incorporate a biochar reactor. He examined the entire biochar commercialisation pipeline.
“I wanted to put together information that was useful to everybody,” he says.
“That effort proved a life-changing experience. It challenged my view of what an agriculture enterprise looks like and where it looks to for markets. It vastly expanded my horizons and provided new perspectives, which led me to make very significant changes to my own business.”
This included selling his mixed cropping farm on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, in preference to setting up a new business on the mainland with the capacity for a vastly diversified array of income streams. The new business is orchard-based, which allows for woody green waste that is highly suited to biochar production systems with expanded markets.
Reactor innovations
To acquire a level of understanding that allows for solid decision-making, Mr McGorman dug deep into the technical nitty-gritty of biochar production. His report includes the technical details that allow for strategic selection among the various reactor options becoming commercially available.
In summary, biochar is what results when organic material – wood, agricultural waste, even sewage waste – undergoes pyrolysis: burning in a low oxygen environment.
Modern production methods use closed pyrolysis systems (see Figure 1). Burning occurs at high temperature, but with limited oxygen, which helps capture emissions. They are then stored permanently in the biochar.
Carbon credits
Within international carbon credit markets, biochar falls in the Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) category. Biochar dominates this category.
Mr McGorman reports that biochar carbon credits accounted for 89.4% of the total (116,800 t) of carbon credits delivered in the second quarter of 2025. Given a market price of A$240/t of captured carbon dioxide, Mr McGorman estimates in his report that a reactor producing 1,000 t of biochar a year can potentially earn half a million dollars a year on the carbon credit markets.
“Within Australia, support for the sector is available through the Australia and New Zealand Biochar Industry Group (ANZBIG) but there is currently no government support system available.”
To earn voluntary carbon credits from biochar, producers must meet standards from global registries such as Puro.earth (owned by Nasdaq), Verra and Isometric.
Agricultural case study
As part of his Nuffield travel tours, Mr McGorman visited the company Frantoio del Grevepesa in Italy, an olive processing and marketing cooperative with more than 180 member farms of all sizes.
To reduce the processing facility’s energy bill, the co-op worked with Yanmar R&D Europe (Florence) to implement a Farm Circular Solution (FCS). The model involves producers delivering their olive grove (and vineyard) pruning to the co-op. These are cut, dried and pelletised to a uniform shape and density before they are used as feedstock for biochar reactors. These were recalibrated to produce more syngas (at the cost of biochar production) by allowing more oxygen during burning.
Syngas (synthesis gas) is a mixture of predominantly hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases. It can be burnt to generate heat (for example, to heat horticultural greenhouses). Alternatively, it is captured and cleaned to generate electricity or upgraded to synthetic fuel (such as methanol and green hydrogen).
At the Italian facility, syngas is converted to electricity to power the processing plant. Additional supply is sold to the national grid.
“The biochar is considered a by-product of energy generation that is returned to the farmers to apply to their soils, thereby completing the circular economy,” Mr McGorman says.
“The advantage of this model is that the initial capital outlay and risks are shared by co-op members.”
He adds that this circular economy model could be applied in Australia. One example would be a co-op among broadacre farmers who operate a medium-scale biochar reactor located near an energy user, such as a greenhouse, winery or industrial manufacturer.
Conclusions
Mr McGorman concludes that across all models, success depends on securing consistent feedstock, optimising technology selection, developing multiple revenue streams and building strategic relationships.
He also warns that as biochar momentum increases globally and more reactor manufacturers enter the market, growers should beware of overhyped marketing claims based on unrealistic modelling of 24/7 production rates.
Benefits, challenges and adoption pathways are highlighted in Mr Paul McGorman’s report: Biochar’s Potential in Australian Farming Systems.
Nuffield Australia
For 75 years, Nuffield has empowered Australian primary producers to innovate through its flagship experiential learning program. GRDC highly values the program and has supported more than 70 grain growers to take part since 2000. To learn more, visit Nuffield Australia.
What is biochar?
Structurally, biochar is a porous carbon material with properties that are potentially ideal for improving soils.
A large surface area means it can adsorb and retain significant amounts of nutrients and water molecules. This same honeycomb structure can provide a home for microorganisms or can be loaded up to deliver nutrients. It can also naturally attract nitrogen and other nutrients (due to cation and anion exchange activity) that would otherwise be lost or leached away from soil.
Also Read: Global Biocontrol Market to Reach USD 15 Billion by 2032
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