Biochar is biomass derived charcoal that is primarily intended for addition to soils for carbon sequestration or agricultural purposes. The charring process converts wood, which can be degraded to carbon dioxide by fungi in a matter of years, into charcoal, which is resistant to fungal degradation and can persist in soils for hundreds to thousands of years. Additionally, charcoal has the property of binding chemicals, and has shown utility in agriculture for retaining nutrients in the upper layers of soils, preventing runoff and leaching into waterways, and enhancing nutrient availability to plants. Biochar greatly aids in improving the fertility of tropical soils that have been leached of nutrients by millennia of heavy rainfall and increases yields. Gasifying stoves leave biochar as a byproduct, and provide the opportunity to produce a valuable agricultural amendment while improving human and environmental health.