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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Continuous In-woods Production of Biochar Using a Trailer-Mounted Air Curtain Burner
Published on: April 5, 2024
Carbon compensation or fuel displacement? Biomass allocation trade-offs for decarbonizing aviation
Hassan El-Houjeiri1, Adam R Brandt2, Mohammad S Masnadi3
1Department of Climate and Sustainability, KAPSARC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
Waste biomass can deliver climate mitigation through two fundamentally different routes: durable carbon removal via biochar and fossil-jet displacement via sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). We harmonize published techno-economic assessments to a common 2024 delivered-to-market basis and compare both pathways as climate-service abatement cost (USD removed or avoided). For biochar, we combine an empirical cost-capacity relationship with audited net-removal factors. For SAF, we distinguish the commercially dominant waste-lipid route from the waste- and residue-derived pathways needed for larger long-run scale. Commercial biochar systems currently deliver a median abatement cost of about 177 USD (5th-95th percentile: 111-497 USD ), while waste-derived SAF centers near 448 USD . Current SAF supply is still overwhelmingly lipid-based, whereas the lignocellulosic and municipal-solid-waste routes needed for larger long-term aviation abatement remain earlier in commercialization. These differences suggest complementary timelines: biochar is a near-term removal option, while SAF remains a longer-term aviation decarbonization pathway.
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