Biochar Research and Educational Resources

The amount of programs and research that focus on biochar have greatly expanded over the last 5 years.  Both institutes of higher education as well as research institutions are developing programs and teaching positions in biochar with some becoming quite large and well funded. The information below highlights biochar programs in higher education and in research institutions, links to each are listed by country and are those that IBI is aware of at this time. If your program is not listed here, or if you have a correction or an update, please submit your information to Thayer Tomlinson, IBI Communications Director.

New research and studies are constantly being published and IBI lists all peer-reviewed published work on our bibliography. Additionally, with the help of the IBI Advisory Committee, IBI has published an initial list of biochar research Needs and Priorities.

Biochar Programs in Higher Education

Click here for list of universities working in agriculture and forestry

EUROPE

• European Biochar Research Network (eBRN)

AUSTRALIA

• Australian National University (ANU)
• James Cook University
• University of Adelaide
• University of New South Wales, School of Materials Science and Engineering
• University of Newcastle
• University of Sydney
• University of Western Australia
• University of Wollongong

BELGIUM

• Ghent University

BRAZIL

• Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi
• Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

CANADA

• Fleming College, Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment
• McGill University (Plant Science Dept.)
• Queens University  
• University of Saskatchewan
• University of Toronto
• University of Waterloo
• University of Western Ontario

CHILE

• University of La Frontera, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Universidad Tarapacá de Arica

CHINA

• China Agricultural University
• Zhejiang Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center (ZJBETRC)
• Zheijiang University

COLOMBIA

• UTA Tosoly

COSTA RICA

• Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE)

GERMANY

• Bingen University of Applied Sciences
• Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) Soil Biogeochemistry
• University of Bayreuth, Institute of Soil Science and Soil Geography, Terra Preta Program

GUYANA

• University of Guyana, Faculty of Natural Sciences Department of Chemistry & Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Chemistry

ITALY

• Centro Interdipartimentale per le Scienze Ambientali, Università di Bologna
• University of Udine, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

JAPAN

• Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
• Osaka Institute of Technology

MALAYSIA

• Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology

NETHERLANDS

• Wageningen University

NEW ZEALAND

• New Zealand Center for Biochar Research, Massey University 

SAUDI ARABIA

• King Saud University

SOUTH KOREA

• Knagwon National University, Korea

THAILAND

• Center for Natural Resource and Environmental Management, Mae Fah Luang University

UNITED KINGDOM

• Aberystwyth University, Wales
• Low Carbon Innovation Centre, University of East Anglia
• Heriot-Watt University also a partner of "Biochar: an effective carbon capture method–An International Leverhulme Trust Network"
• UK Biochar Research Centre, University of Edinburgh

UNITED STATES

• Appalachian State University
• University of Colorado, Boulder, Center for Energy and Environmental Security
• Cornell University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Program on Soil Fertility Management and Soil Biogeochemistry with projects in Terra Preta de Indio and Biochar Soil Management
• Delaware State University, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
• University of Florida, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
• University of Florida, Department of Geological Sciences
• University of Georgia, Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program
• University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Natural Energy Institute
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
• Iowa State, Bioeconomy Institute
• Ohio State University, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• Oregon State University (OSU)
• Rice University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Earth Science
• South Dakota State University
• Virginia Tech University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• Washington State University, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources

Research Institutes with Biochar Programs

INTERNATIONAL

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
• International Rice Research Institute
• Australia and New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network
• The North Sea Region Programme Biochar Project

AUSTRALIA

• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
• Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
• Department of Primary Industries, New South Wales
• Department of Primary Industries, Victoria

BRAZIL

• Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental
• Embrapa Arroz e Feijão
• Embrapa Solos

CANADA

• Saskatchewan Research Council

CHINA

• Chinese Academy of Sciences, Energy Power Research Center, Jiangsu
• China: China National Bamboo Research Center (CBRC)
• Environment Research Center of Black Carbon
• Global Environmental Institute
• Institute of Soil Science Nanjing, Chinese Academy of Sciences

COLOMBIA

• Cenicana (Colombian Sugarcane Research Center)
• Centro de Investigacion en Palma de Aceite (Cenipalma)

COSTA RICA

• Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center): (CATIE)

ESTONIA

• Agricultural Research Centre

GHANA

• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Soil Research Institute

GERMANY

• Fraunhofer-Institute
• Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam

INDIA

• Appropriate Rural Technology Institute
• Geoecology Energy Organization

ISRAEL

• Israel Biochar Researchers Network (iBRN) Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center

ITALY

• Institute of Biometeorology - National Research Council of Italy (IBIMET – CNR)

NETHERLANDS

• Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) - Biomass, Coal, and Environmental Research

PHILIPPINES

• Philippine Rice Research Institute

SRI LANKA

• Soils and Plant Nutrition Department, Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka

UNITED KINGDOM

• Rothamsted Research
• East Malling Research

UNITED STATES

• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
• Flux Farm Foundation
• National Center for Appropriate Technology
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Rodale Institute
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Tilth Laboratory
• United States Geological Survey (USGS)