Microscopy illuminates charcoal’s sketchy origins

Microscopy illuminates charcoal’s sketchy origins

Microscopy illuminates charcoal’s origins

Much of the charcoal sold in Europe comes from tropical forests and is often incorrectly labelled, raising questions about whether it was logged legally. The finding comes from an analysis of thousands of charcoal samples, using a pioneering microscopy technique. The opaque, multimillion-dollar international charcoal business in the European Union has come under fire because it is not covered by the legislation that prohibits illegally logged timber.

Nature | 3 min readReference: IAWA Journal paper