Research library
The core physical-property claims on this site — water retention, cation exchange, soil structure, pH buffering, and carbon stability — are tied to the peer-reviewed literature here. This is the evidence base behind our marketing copy, published for anyone who wants to verify.
Water retention
Multiple meta-analyses and field studies show biochar amendment increases soil water retention, with the largest effects in coarse-textured sandy soils and in soils with low native organic matter.
3 citations → Topic 02Cation exchange capacity (CEC)
Biochar surfaces carry oxygenated functional groups with negative charge. Added to soil, the amendment raises the soil's overall CEC, which in turn reduces leaching of cations like potassium, calcium, magnesium, and ammonium.
3 citations → Topic 03Soil structure & aggregation
Biochar particles introduce stable pore space and can act as nucleation sites for soil aggregate formation, reducing overall bulk density and improving soil structure over time.
3 citations → Topic 04pH buffering
Biochar commonly shifts soil pH upward (typical amendments raise pH 0.1–0.5 units) and adds buffering capacity against acidification from rainfall, fertiliser, or organic matter cycling.
3 citations → Topic 05Carbon stability & persistence in soil
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal fractions and multi-year decomposition studies consistently show biochar's mean residence time in soil is on the order of decades to centuries — vastly longer than uncharred organic matter.
3 citations →What we do not claim
The peer-reviewed literature on biochar also discusses agronomic outcomes we do not claim on this website — specifically yield effects, fertiliser substitution, and carbon offset / sequestration credits. Those studies exist, but the results are highly dependent on specific soils, climates, crops, biochar production parameters, and (in the case of carbon credits) third-party certification we do not hold. Under the Canadian Competition Act, environmental and performance claims require adequate and proper substantiation specific to the conditions the product is used in — which is why we restrict our marketing claims to physical soil properties that hold consistently across the published literature.