Credits to ramp up biochar in practice for Carbon sequestration

This article talks about how biochar helps in so many ways, but in particular about sequestering carbon.  It mentions that it's expensive and labor heavy to make,
but that if we got tax or other credits going, it would really connect the benefits to society to decrease the cost and increase the likelihood of its use:
John S
PDX OR

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/11/biochar-has-potential-to-enhance-agriculture-in-california-mitigate-climate-change/

If someone wants to pay me money to add more biochar to my own soil, I would let them!

I have no idea how to make that happen, though.

With climate change, we as a society have to figure out how to sequester carbon so our planet doesn't continue to heat up more, and more, and more.

Many governments have devised credits for people who can show they are sequestering carbon.  Biden has talked about it.  As you know, there are many politicians who claim it's a hoax, who say we shouldn't try to do anything about it until its too late, etc.  

John S
PDX OR

The pollution generated by cars and industry is a negative externality. The people driving the cars pay for the gas, but not for the effect that the pollution has on others: human health, damage to wildlife. Nor on the increase in carbon or eventual heat.  Nor on the pollution increasing effects of urban sprawl.

Biochar is a positive externality. It sequesters carbon for all of us on the planet.  The person making and burying the biochar creates a positive effect for everyone, but is not paid for it.  He/she is decreasing the climate change effect for everyone else.  The idea of the credit is to give positive credit for the positive effect that the biochar person gives to society, but is not paid for.  

There are other transactions without externalities. If you buy a carrot, and eat it, you get all of the nutrition and flavor from the carrot.  You don't damage anyone else with the eating of the carrot, and you don't really help anyone else either.  No externalities on that transaction.  Economics 101.

JOhn S
PDX OR

The problem with an incentive is that it is difficult to set up in a way that prevents abuse (ie cutting down mature forest for biochar). By the time you tie it up well enough to get the desired result, the administration becomes a nightmare.  That said, the Japanese are already offering carbon credits for biochar.  It would be interesting to see how they have it set up.  Around 46 minutes the interviewee states that the carbon credit amounts to $17 a ton.  It would take quite an operation (industrial) for it to amount to much.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvHJKqU-mZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvHJKqU-mZo

Good point, Gray.  There have been many attempts to efficiently give credits to positive environmental activities.  Many of them have had large corporations greenwashing their work and pretending to help, but just wanting the money.  Like all things in life, how we do it makes a big difference. We need to learn from the previous attempts to administer this kind of work and avoid the pitfalls.  Maybe the incentives that have been set up are encouraging the wrong behavior.  I do believe that over time, people will notice where it is being done well and try to copy that.
John S
PDX OR