The Barcelona City Council has selected the Project Biochar as one of the two winning solutions of the challenge “The 21st Century Street Section”, an initiative aimed at developing new urban pavements with less environmental impact and greater circularity.
The proposal incorporates biochar produced by our partner Carboliva made from olive pits in asphalt mixtures for sidewalks and roadways, replacing the limestone filler commonly used. This substitution would allow to reduce CO₂ emissions associated with the manufacture of the material by around 76%, and also, integrate into the pavement itself a renewable carbon sink
This application exemplifies how the residual biomass It can be transformed into raw material for new, high-value-added industrial uses. In this case, an olive grove byproduct is transformed into a material capable of contributing to the decarbonization of urban construction, opening up new opportunities for the circular bioeconomy.
According to tests carried out by the project team, mixtures with biochar maintain equivalent or even superior performance to conventional ones, with improvements in aspects such as water resistance or cracking and behavior in the face of temperature changes.
The initiative is driven by the Barcelona City Council, the BIT Habitat Foundation, BIMSA, and the Barcelona Provincial Council. The project will receive funding to develop the applied research and prototyping phase until September 2026, with the aim of launching the first urban pilot projects in 2027.
With its participation in this project, Carboliva highlights the potential of biochar as a useful tool not only in agronomic or environmental applications, but also in sectors such as civil engineering and construction materials.
The project points to a line of great interest for the biomass sector: the development of solutions capable of store carbon in durable products, replace materials of fossil or mineral origin and generate new value chains from local renewable resources.
Fountain
https://bithabitat.barcelona/es/proyectos/seccio-s-xxi/
National Geographic también se ha hecho eco del proyecto: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/tecnologia/asi-es-nuevo-asfalto-innovador-que-barcelona-instalara-a-partir-este-ano-sus-calles_28200
