Biochar: currently the cheaper route to climate impact from biomass?
when comparing to SAF
10/22/20261 min read
Biomass residues from forestry, agriculture and households are limited. What delivers the most climate benefit: turning them into biochar, or into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)?
A new study in the journal iScience (21 August 2026) compares the two routes. The researchers come from KAPSARC, Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh. They compared what it costs to remove or avoid one tonne of CO₂, in 2024 US dollars.
The numbers
Biochar: about $177 per tonne of CO₂ on average. Most cases fall between $111 and $497.
SAF from residues and waste: about $448 per tonne of CO₂ on average, with a range of $98 to $948.
Within SAF, HEFA (waste fats and oils) is the only route running at commercial scale today, at around $362. Gasification with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis comes in at about $342.
Why biochar leads for now
Biochar is a mature technology that is already operating. Scale helps too: a plant producing ten times as much is almost 60% cheaper per tonne. SAF from woody residues and household waste will only become significant in the 2030s and 2040s, and only if the first plants prove reliable. Global SAF production in 2025 was about 2 million tonnes, roughly 0.7% of the jet fuel aircraft use.
Caveats
The researchers call their study a snapshot, not a final ranking. It is also not a like-for-like comparison. Biochar removes CO₂ from the atmosphere, while SAF avoids new fossil emissions, and aviation has few alternatives. The soil benefits of biochar and the fuel-security benefits of SAF are not part of the cost comparison. Blending mandates and subsidies can steer biomass towards fuel even when carbon storage is cheaper. And where certification schemes don’t line up, there is a risk of double counting.
Our takeaway
It is not either/or. If biomass is scarce, cost per tonne of CO₂ is a fair yardstick. On that measure, carbon removal with biochar deserves a solid place in the discussion now, not only after 2030.
Source: Biomassafeiten (in Dutch)
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