Edinburgh success: Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Technologies prize
Industrial, agricultural and research partners, including the University of Edinburgh, have been awarded funding as a part of the UK government’s Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Technologies competition.
The project will test the feasibility of using biochar commercially in agriculture.
The consortium is led by Sofies and supported by some of the best industrial and research bodies in the UK and Germany including University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Biomacon and R&S Biomass.
The School of GeoSciences Business Development Team, in ECCI, coordinated academics and industry partners through the bid process and negotiated the formal collaboration between the parties on award.
Biochar expertise
Dr Saran Sohi, Senior Lecturer, School of GeoSciences, Leader: Soil Science, UK Biochar Research Centre and Prinicipal Investigator for the project said:
"To have our project awarded under the Governments Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Programme is great news.
"We now have a vehicle to create biochar systems that are viable at scale, drawing on accumulated academic expertise.
"Partnerships embedded in the projects offer pathways to million-tonne CO2 removal on Net Zero timeframes. Working towards second phase funding next year, commercial production of biochar could begin in 2025.” Dr Saran Sohi, Prinicipal Investigator for both projects
Carbon Capture in Infrastructure
The news comes off the back of a recent announcement that the University of Edinburgh has been awarded funding by the UK Government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), to demonstrate the feasibility of using carbon capture technologies within UK infrastructure projects to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
In collaboration with industry partners Arup and academic partners, the team will explore the use of biochar for storage of carbon within soil and enhanced rock weathering.