What is a pyrolyzer?

Eligible equipment shares one critical feature. Pyrolysis gases must pass through a fire curtain or combustion zone before escaping. That is what cleanly burns the methane and other hydrocarbons that would otherwise be a major emission source.

Traditional charcoal pits and retorts, where pyrolysis gases escape uncombusted, are explicitly excluded. Wet feedstock above a moisture threshold is not allowed either, because incomplete combustion produces smoke and methane. Cutting forest trees for biomass disqualifies a project entirely.

A simple flame-front kiln on the farm. The shape can be a lined pit, a conical metal vessel, or an upright drum. Biomass is added in thin layers from above. Each new layer ignites on the embers below, and the rising gases catch in the flame curtain at the top before reaching the atmosphere.

Low capital cost. One operator, no electricity. Fits smallholder co-ops piloting biochar without committing to bigger equipment. A network of earthen kilns across many farms can aggregate into a single registered project.

A batch reactor with built-in emissions controls. Towable, so a single unit can serve one farm year-round or rotate among member farms in a co-op. The standard mid-tier choice.

A single farmer can buy one and cover their whole farm. Sensor-based monitoring slots into the standard MRV workflow. Modular: a co-op can stage in additional units as production scales.

This is where most projects sit today, when there is mill-level or co-op-level residue volume and a real certification track.

A continuously fed system designed for processing centers with year-round residue. Higher throughput and more automation than the batch options. The right fit when one location aggregates enough biomass to keep it running.

These pair well with mid-size mobile reactors at member farms feeding the same registered project. Above the artisan ceiling for annual production, projects move to the industrial certification pathway.

Households using top-lit updraft stoves for cooking produce biochar as a co-product. These are grouped into village-scale projects. Each stove model must be individually endorsed by the standard. Pro-rata methane accounting applies, only the biochar fraction of emissions counts toward the credit.

A perfectly designed kiln run badly produces uncertified char. Same kiln, untrained operator: too much smoke, methane spikes, biochar that fails the carbon-stability cutoff. Same kiln, trained operator with dry feedstock and the right layering technique: registry-grade carbon.

Every Artisan Biochar Producer must complete training and pass an exam before producing certified biochar. The C-Sink Manager is responsible for training quality and is audited annually on whether the discipline holds in the field. The supporting program of training, recordkeeping, and quality control is the work that sits on top of the equipment.