In our Introduction to Biochar blog post, we discussed how biochar projects are a combination of ancient practices and modern climate innovation. Here, we discuss artisanal biochar projects. In contrast to large-scale, industrial projects, which produce biochar mechanically under controlled conditions in a facility, artisanal biochar projects involve small-scale farmers or households who produce biochar manually using lower-cost methods.

To date, our assessment of artisanal biochar projects has focused on projects applying the Global Artisan C-Sink methodology from Carbon Standards International. We share insights on the strengths, shortcomings and proposed solutions for this project type, based on our experience rating eight projects under the Global Artisan C-Sink methodology.