Description: Biochar has demonstrated potential as a tool for carbon sequestration, soil amelioration, energy generation, greenhouse gas and fertilizer runoff reduction as well as waste management. With the advent of the carbon tax significant opportunities exist in Australia to exploit the range of benefits offered by biochar in developing new, sustainable environmental and commercial opportunities. The biochar research program at JCU has three main foci: (i) development of techniques to quantify stable biochar carbon in a range of sample matrices, (ii) development of a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms by which biochar interacts with its environment and (iii) the development of the agricultural potential of biochar derived from a range of feedstocks, particularly in tropical Australia.