Bioenergetic processes have been at the centre of environmental research for around a decade. In addition to the production of biogas, the focus is primarily on carbon storage processes such as pyrolysis or HTC with the aim of producing biochar. From the point of view of sustainability, ecology and possible conflicts of use in agriculture, the project uses landscape conservation material from various north-west German peatland sites as a starting substrate for the process. HTC is a thermochemical process that can produce biochar from almost any biomass within a few hours. At temperatures of around 200 °C and a pressure of around 20 bar, the slightly exothermic process produces humus- or peat-like products in short reaction times and products that are very similar to lignite in longer times (up to 12 hours). The research project is being carried out with the participation of six universities in Lower Saxony and numerous cooperation partners from industry. Financing: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Duration: 01.04.2011 to 31.10.2014 Further information on this project can be found here.