Chocolate is one of the most popular and delicious products in the world, but it also has surprising potential to help fight global warming.
As? Using the waste from chocolate production – cocoa shells – to create a substance called biochar, capable of sequestering carbon dioxide and enriching the soil.
What is biochar and how does it work?
Biochar is a black, porous material that is made by heating organic matter, such as plant debris or animal manure, in a low-oxygen environment, reports Phys.org.
This process, known as pyrolysis, prevents organic matter from decomposing and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Instead, the carbon is locked inside the biochar, which can be used as a soil amendment or as an ingredient in green cement.
Biochar has many benefits for the environment and agriculture. It can store carbon for centuries, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change.
It can also improve soil fertility, water retention, nutrient cycling and crop yields.
In addition, it can reduce soil erosion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers and pesticides.
According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), biochar could be used to capture 2.6 billion of the 40 billion tons of CO2 currently produced by humanity each year.
How does chocolate fit into this picture?
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, which are harvested from the pods of the cocoa tree.
The beans are then fermented, dried, roasted and shelled to produce cocoa nibs, which are ground into liquor, butter and cocoa powder.
The shells, which make up about 12% of the weight of cocoa beans, are usually discarded as waste or used as animal feed or mulch.
However, some innovative companies have found a way to turn cocoa shells into biochar.
One of these is Circular Carbon, a German start-up that operates one of the largest biochar plants in Europe.
The plant receives cocoa shells from a nearby chocolate factory through a network of pipes and converts them into biochar by pyrolysis.
The biochar is then sold to local farmers or used to make green cement.
Circular Carbon CEO Peik Stenlund says his company is “reversing the carbon cycle” by turning cocoa shells into biochar.
One ton of biochar can store the equivalent of 2.5-3 tons of CO2. The company also produces biogas from the pyrolysis process, which is resold to the chocolate factory.
Circular Carbon is not the only one to harness the energy of cocoa shells.
In Ghana, the world‘s second largest cocoa producer, a company called Biochar Farms is working with smallholder farmers to make biochar from cocoa shells and other agricultural waste.
Biochar is then used to improve soil quality and increase crop yields on degraded land.
What are the challenges and opportunities?
While biochar offers a promising solution to combat climate change and increase food security, it faces some challenges and limitations.
One of them is scaling up production and use to have a significant impact on global carbon emissions. This would require more research, investment, infrastructure and policy support.
Another challenge is to ensure that biochar production does not compete with food production or cause deforestation.
Biochar should be produced from sustainable sources of biomass that do not impact food security or biodiversity.
Cocoa shells are an ideal feedstock for biochar because they are abundant, renewable and have no other uses.
However, cocoa production itself is under threat from climate change, as rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns affect the growth and yield of cocoa trees.
Cacao trees are sensitive to heat and drought and require specific climatic conditions to thrive.
According to a study by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), cocoa production could decrease by up to 50% by 2050 due to climate change.
Therefore, biochar alone cannot save chocolate from disappearance.
Other adaptation strategies are needed to help cocoa farmers cope with climate change, such as developing drought tolerant varieties, crop diversification, improving shade management and improving access to markets and information.
Biochar could be part of a holistic approach to making chocolate production more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change.
By using cocoa shells as a source of biochar, chocolate lovers could enjoy their favorite treat and contribute to a greener, healthier planet at the same time.