People make the biochar industry a vibrant and exciting place to work. Each month, in the USBI Newsletter, we profile a passionate individual who is helping to develop the biochar industry.
Read our collection of interviews with biochar producers, researchers, farmers and other end users.
Sign up for the USBI Newsletter to read the profiles as soon as they are published.
Meet Kai Hoffman Krull, Forest Health Manager For The San Juan Islands Conservation District
December 2021
How did you get started with biochar?
I have always been interested in forests and climate change. I grew up in Spokane and loved the outdoors. In college I studied environmental journalism and took graduate level courses at the Yale School of Forestry. But after graduate school I was feeling a strong need to apply the knowledge I learned in the academy to hands on forestry. There seemed to be a big disconnect between the academic world and the realities of implementing regenerative practices on the ground. I purchased undeveloped land here on the San Juan Islands to homestead, and made a big mess felling trees to clear it for a small farm. Some of the local farmers stopped by and said: “What have you done, son?” They were the ones who first told me about biochar. I made a call to Dr. Tom DeLuca, a biochar researcher who taught at the University of Washington at the time, and he ended up working with me and Dr. Si Gao on a series farm biochar trials.
Is that collaboration with Dr. DeLuca still going on?
Yes. We are just finishing up a project looking at the impacts of biochar on forest soils and the growth characteristics of tree saplings. We have found that biochar improves the water holding capacity of our forest soils and it also reduces the basal respiration rate of soils, which means that the biochar is helping to stabilize the other, more volatile carbon in the soil. We will have a final report out soon.
You have some big biochar forestry projects going on now. How did that come about?
We have a great need for fuels reduction to address ongoing drought and wildfire threats in San Juan County. In 2020 the San Juan Islands Conservation District launched the Islands Conservation Corps (ICC) to create and train an ecology workforce. This is hard work, so we need people. What we are doing meets a lot of different conservation objectives such as oak woodland restoration. It also helps protect our communities from wildfire. The electric company, OPALCO, also supports us to clear vegetation along utility corridors, work that we do in partnership with forestry contractor Rainshadow Consulting.
What have you been learning?
My biggest learning this year has been the art of coordinating people. I am getting to experience this fascinating intersection between environmental science and human psychology. Our crew has done an incredible job of coming together as a community, and it’s a powerful example of how human synergy also fosters the best work in ecology. Our crew balances field time with taking courses at Western Washington University’s College of the Environment, Huxley College. They are studying forest restoration, GIS, biostatistics and things like that. We had 70 applicants for the program and chose only 10. The students get a stipend and 20 free college credits. With this program, they are gaining many valuable skills in chainsaw work, burning practices, planting, riparian zone restoration, all in coordination with their academic coursework. We are bridging that gap between the university and the field.
What techniques are you using to make biochar in the woods?
We use the Conservation Burn technique. We make standard size burn piles, about 5 feet in diameter. By next year we will have as many as 1,500 piles on different preserves across San Juan County. We light them on the top to get a good flaming combustion going that reduces smoke. Then, we put out the coals at the end to save the char. We have a 1,300-gallon water truck and we use a combination of spraying water and raking. For very remote sites we have five-gallon backpack pumps. One backpack pump can extinguish two piles.
What’s coming up next for you?
Next year the ICC program will launch a Master of Arts in Ecological Restoration from Huxley College, so we have opportunities for more research. We are excited to formalize more research in conservation burn practices, and develop a replicated treatment system to get reliable data. We will try separating size classes, different densities, and using a teepee style construction with different angles. We want to weigh some feedstocks so we can get an estimate of biochar production efficiencies. We are also working with DNR to document our practices so that DNR can specify Conservation Burn as a practice. This could lead to reduced permitting costs over conventional burns for those who use the practice.
Read more about Kai Hoffman-Krull and the Islands Conservation Corps here:
Hear more from Kai at the USBI Biochar in the Woods Online Workshop on January 27, 2022. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/biochar-in-the-woods-learn-how-to-use-biochar-for-forest-resilience-tickets-207366166787
Meet Biochar Practioner, Zach Hartlyn, Salt Lake City Backyard Urban Gardens (BUG) Farms
October 2021
Q What is the scale and scope of your urban farming operation?
A My partner, Kristen, and I purchased BUG Farms from some friends 3 years ago. We farm just under an acre of land distributed across eight, small backyard plots in our neighborhood in Salt Lake City. During our 22-week Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season, we provide an average of 90 weekly vegetable shares to our members and plot-owners. Along with Kristen and I, we have several workers and volunteers each season. Over the last 3 seasons, we have been transitioning our practices toward no-till and away from reliance on deep tillage.
Q What is the soil like? Is there a lot of variability in the neighborhood? What are your top concerns about soil?
A There are some soil differences. Most areas are clay, one area has a nicer loamy soil. We also have fairly high soil pH (7.4-7.8) so we focus a lot on cover cropping and avoid salty high pH manures. We are most worried about drought so we want to build soil carbon to help retain water.
Q What made you decide to try biochar in your operation?
A Both Kristen and I studied biochar in school, so we knew about Terra Preta and how biochar sequesters carbon in the soil. Back when we lived in Vermont, we knew people who had experimented with biochar. We heard GO Biochar's John Webster on a local radio program and contacted him. He was very helpful and gave us the information we needed to get started. This was our first year using biochar. We charged it up with humates, compost, and azomite, and applied about 5 gallons for every 30 square feet in one of our worst plots with heavy clay soil.
Q What kind results did you see? Will you continue to use biochar?
A It’s just the first year, and it was not a heavy application but I will say that the plot where we applied it was terrible last year and this year it was great. Of course, we made other changes, too, because you never just change one thing when you're farming but I think it really helped. We are definitely going to continue with biochar and use it in all of our plots next year. It is the right thing to do. We would like to incorporate better testing and diagnostic tools into our soil practices so that we can more objectively understand the state of the soils we grow in and whether our efforts are helping in any measurable way.
Q What do you mean by “the right thing to do?”
A Farming is hard on soil, even no-till farming. Yeah, we could have continued doing deep tillage and apply thousands of dollars’ worth of blood meal and feather meal to our soil to get high yields, but it wasn't sustainable. It was taxing physically on our bodies and it does not build soil health. Even though we don't own these plots, we have shifted our focus away from an extractive mindset of getting what you can out of this ground before we lose it, to a mentality of trying to leave the soil better than we found it. Biochar is a major component of that focus.
"Farming is not just a job, it's a lifestyle, says Zach. It can be really hard mentally and physically, and it doesn't make all that much money. It often requires a faith in mysterious unseen forces, from tiny microbes to huge weather patterns, and an investment in things that might not payout within our short lifetimes. Kristen and I believe that the efforts we have made are paying off with better crop health and yields. We would like to continue to learn, experiment, and grow these practices, hopefully passing the knowledge and healthier soils on to the people that come after us."
Meet Biochar Practitioner, Phil Blom, CEO of BioEnergy Innovations Global, Inc. and Energy Americas Solutions, LLC
August 2021
Q What got you started with biochar?
A I grew up on a dairy farm in Iowa. When I was young, my father started a cattle breeding and genetics business offering artificial insemination services to other farmers. I headed off to college, but two years later, my dad was injured and couldn’t work, so I came home to help with the business. Eventually, I took over the business and built it up to become the largest independent beef genetics company in the US and sold the business in 1999. I became a real estate broker here in Missouri until the 2008 slump and was having lunch with a friend who knew I was looking for an alternative. “Biochar,” he said, “is an up and coming thing.” He was an engineer working on emissions from charcoal kilns, which is a big industry in Missouri. He knew the value of carbon and that I was interested in soil. It sounded interesting so I spent a few months doing research and trying biochar out in my garden soil. I could see the value of it with my own eyes, and I got hooked.
Q What was your first step to build your biochar business?
A I started going to Mother Earth News fairs and similar events and sold buckets of biochar. The organic farming community were the first farmers to recognize the benefits. Early on, I was fortunate to meet David Yarrow, a leader in the organic farming movement in New York. We integrated biochar into the organic farming world. Other groups that really understand the value of soil carbon are our Amish and Mennonite farmers. High-value horticulture growers crops also get it.
Q What products do you offer now?
A Our registered brand is called Terra-Char and we source the biochar very carefully to maintain high quality. All of our trademarked Terra-Char products have a minimum of 76% fixed carbon. Terra Char products come in five-gallon buckets, 1.66 cubic yard totes and bulk semi-truck-loads. We have 1-2 cubic foot bags coming soon. We also distribute soil amendments that work really well with biochar - humates, rock dust and organic nitrogen.
Q What's your approach to get farmers to try biochar?
A We start by selling them enough to try in their gardens and orchards. They can see the value there, and then they can integrate it into their farmland. We spend a lot of time on the phone helping clients understand how to apply biochar effectively so that it pays for itself in the first year. For every successful customer we get, we know we will get another one – or three. Word of mouth works with farmers.
Q What other biochar markets are you getting into?
A We're doing a lot with water filtration, storm
water, and bioremediation. We sell biochar to large composting operations and it really improves their product. We also work with CAFO (Confined Animal Feed Operations) farms that see a lot of benefit using biochar in bedding to control ammonia and retain nitrogen in composted manure. Again, it's the smaller independent farmers who will try this. It's not easy for big corporate franchise CAFO operations to change their practices. Biochar in animal feed has a good future, currently in the early adoption phase.
Q We find that most of the biochar production is in the northwest and southeast, where the wood products industry is concentrated. But most of the end users are in the midwest where you are. How are you addressing this gap?
A I started another company called Energy Americas Solutions to provide combined heat and biochar (CHAB) equipment. There are a lot of small sawmills scattered around the Midwest that have woody residuals to burn and a need for heat to dry lumber. We work with equipment manufacturers to identify the best technologies and then represent those technologies to customers. If they buy equipment from us, we can often provide off-take agreements for the char and help them develop local markets. There is lots of good biochar territory in the midwest to open up!
Q What’s next for you?
A We are getting interested in carbon credits for biochar. I’m still trying to learn how it works but it could have a lot of potential. People are too complacent about the future. The heat waves we are experiencing are starting to have a real impact. Biochar is the right thing for the planet and people. It can help provide us with food and energy security. People need to make the effort to understand it. My personal goal is to keep building this business so it is attractive to younger people who can take it over and make it an even bigger success.
Meet Biochar Practitioner Brett KenCairn, Senior Climate Resilience Policy Advisor, City of Boulder, CO Director, Urban Drawdown Initiative
July 2021
The Urban Drawdown Initiative, a collaborative effort between Boulder and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network supports over 50 cities in North America and Europe. Its goal is to accelerate the implementation of carbon removal strategies that improve community social, economic, and environmental resilience.
Q Please tell us how you got into this kind of work and how it has changed over the years?
A I founded a group called the Rogue Institute for Ecology and Economy in Southern Oregon back in the 1990s. Our purpose was to encourage sustainable forestry practices and conserve forest ecosystems. A decade later, I moved to the southwest and got more involved in wood utilization and bioenergy. I started working with the City of Boulder in 2013. Over the years, the focus of sustainability has shifted more toward addressing climate change.
Q What are the most important measures that cities can take to address climate change?
A We are re-defining what climate action is. For us, it's about a lot more than just emissions or fossil fuels. Climate action is also about drawdown – capturing carbon from the air by growing plants and trees. For instance, we have an urban garden program involving 300 households that are monitoring carbon capture in soils in their yards as they grow trees and vegetables. We’ve also been doing experiments on parts of the city’s 25,000 acres of agricultural land adding biochar, compost, and nutrients to increase soil carbon. Increasingly, climate action is about resilience and renewing the urban ecosystems that provide ecosystem services like shade and storm water infiltration that will help our residents survive the extreme heat, flooding, and droughts that are becoming more common.
Q How big is the role of urban forestry, and how does biochar fit in?
A Once thing that strikes me is how little resources from the urban ecosystem are considered, and yet these resources are significant and using them sustainably fits right into the goal of creating circular economies and addressing climate change. We did a biomass assessment of our urban forest resource and started a new urban carbon management planning process both in Boulder and in other cities around the country. The carbon management planning process - both in Boulder and in other cities around the country. The city is paying a lot of money to ship waste wood out of the area for disposal. We could be using that here to make biochar and energy. Bioenergy makes us more carbon-neutral and the biochar contributes to carbon drawdown and builds our climate-resilient ecosystem infrastructure.
Q The City of Boulder recently won a $100,000 grant from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance to support your biochar and bioenergy work. What will this grant enable you to do?
A We'll be able to do the planning and analysis we need to produce specifications for our department so they can start adding biochar into tree planting and landscaping, as well as using it in stormwater management. We will also start to identify where there is a need for thermal energy that can be produced from waste wood, and begin planning for combined heat and biochar installations. We'll be learning from what other cities are doing, such as Minneapolis, Stockholm, and Helsinki. That’s the value of networks like the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance.
Q What’s next after this planning stage?
A We have also been invited to submit a proposal for two years of funding to Bloomberg Philanthropies for technical assistance and funding to create a city-wide biochar project. One thing we hope to address is the lack of infrastructure for processing waste from the urban forest. Most urban centers are not set up for wood processing and do not have a permitting process for doing so. It's really a missed opportunity.
Meet Biochar Practitioner Karl Strahl, VP, Oregon Biochar Solutions, Biochar Business Development
June 2021
Oregon Biochar Solutions (OBS) is a subsidiary of Biomass One, a 30 MW biomass power plant in White City, Oregon, that produces biochar and electric power.
Q You are early in your career. How did you choose biochar as your focus?
A I had originally planned to get a degree in business, but I had a great professor in college who encouraged me to pursue environmental science, and I found that I really enjoyed it. After graduating with a degree in environmental science and communications, I worked for Solar City in New York selling solar panels. We saturated the market, covering 15% of the available roof space, so it was time to take on another challenge. A family member recommended Oregon Biochar Solutions. I could quickly see that, unlike solar, there was no real market yet for biochar, so it was risky, but I like a challenge.
Q What are you doing to develop markets for biochar?
A Currently, I'm looking at biochar as a substitute for products that already have a market, such as activated carbon for water filtration, or various soil conditioners used in growing media. We can make granular and powdered biochar that work as well as or better than other materials in these applications and compete on price. We can produce 3500-4000 tons of biochar year, so we are looking at bulk commodity markets.
Q What about carbon markets? Do you see any potential there?
A We are in the process of getting our biochar listed on the Puro Earth carbon removal trading platform. It’s a complicated process and we are very happy to be getting help from GECA Environnement in Canada. There are lots of details to address and they specialize in this.
Q How does Biomass One balance the power output of the plant with biochar production? Is there a significant tradeoff? And does the company make most of its income as a power plant or as a biochar production plant?
A Producing biochar with our plant has no impact on the power output of the plant. It requires a very slight increase in the amount of biomass fuel we use. The largest share of our revenue comes from electricity sales, followed by tipping fees for our greenwaste drop-off service. Biochar and our soil blending yard make up the last piece of the revenue stream. But even though we make money selling electricity, it makes more sense to think of Biomass One as a wood waste recycling plant that recovers value from waste in the form of electricity and biochar.
Q What is one change to existing business conditions that would help significantly grow biochar markets?
A To really move biochar to where it needs to go, we need incentives to help farmers repair the land and rebuild their soil. We are experiencing extreme land degradation and losing topsoil. Environmental science tells us we need to help farmers implement regenerative practices, including biochar. A federal-scale incentive will be required to make this happen. Above all, it’s a matter of food security now and for the future.
Visit chardirect.com to purchase Oregon Biochar Solutions' bulk biochar or to order a sample.
Meet Biochar Practitioners - Missouri Organic Recycling's CEO Kevin Anderson & Education Director Stan Slaughter
May 2021
Missouri Organic Recycling (MOR) is a composting and soil building company that operates in the Kansas City metro area. CEO Kevin Anderson and Education Director Stan Slaughter (in photo above) tell us about their operations and wide array of products.
Q How did you get started with using biochar in your composting operations?
Kevin About five years ago, we had some organic growers approach us about the quality of our compost. They were not happy with it. They introduced us to David Yarrow, a gardening expert, who showed us how to use biochar, rock dust, clay and a few other ingredients to improve the compost. Biochar improves the composting process, too. It helps a lot with the odors. The smell of ammonia is the smell of nitrogen loss. Our Green Frontier compost has more nutrients and greater stability according to the tests we run that are approved by the US Composting Council. And the organic growers really like it. Some of them won’t use anything else.
Q How many of your products use biochar?
Kevin Our Garden Soil Blend and our Raised Bed Mix both use the Green Frontier compost. We also have a product called Soil Restoration that is a 50:50 mix of biochar with Green Frontier. When you include the biochar content of the Green Frontier compost, it has a total of 66% biochar.
Q How important is education to your business? And what strategies do you use to get the word out?
Kevin Education is everything!
Stan I do a lot of public speaking to garden clubs – I think I have spoken to every garden club in the city. We also sponsor an all-organic farmer’s market and have a booth there where we give away 5-pound bags of compost. And then we have our school programs. I have done many programs in schools over the years, but this last year we had a grant to really expand our reach. I wrote a curriculum that meshes with the state science standards so it is really helpful to teachers. It is based around four ten-minute videos and after the students work through all the material, they do their own science project with compost, worms or soil. We were statewide in 44 schools this year. We also have food waste collection in an entire school district with 45 school buildings participating. We help kids understand the problem of food waste – 40% of food we produce is never eaten. Then we help them be part of the solution.
Kevin When we expose the younger children to information about compost, food waste, and soil, then when they get to high school they do science fair projects about those topics, and by the time they are grown up, they are educated consumers. It’s working. Right now, we are selling all the compost we can make.
Q You have these huge programs and operations for composting, gardening, food waste recycling, urban wood recycling, soil building and education. Is there any other composting company that is doing anything like this?
Kevin Well, you know, everything’s up to date in Kansas City!
Visit the Missouri Organic Recycling YouTube Channel for educational videos on a ton of topics!
Biochar Practitioner Mark Highland, President Organic Mechanics
April 2021
Q How did you get into the soil business and biochar?
A I started with a degree in horticulture from the University of Florida. Then I worked for a while on an organic farm in Oregon where I spent all my free time researching soil at the Oregon State University library. I was very interested in the health of ecosystems and how to grow nutrient-dense food. Soil is the driver of health, both in the environment and our bodies. In 2006, I started my business of making quality potting soil. The 2013 USBI conference in Amherst, MA is where I absorbed enough information from the biochar research community to convince me that biochar had the potential to be a game-changer. I started doing my own experiments and growth trials.
Q Your Pennsylvania-based business makes Biochar and Stormwater Blends that include biochar and sells them in retail packages, bulk bags and truckloads. Have you had any problems getting the volume of biochar you need to make your products?
A No, because we have been lucky and found great suppliers that understand the qualities that we need and can produce the consistent product volume we require. We tried making our own biochar but quickly realized that we could not do that in the volumes we needed. We have been approached by a lot of suppliers and potential suppliers who are just looking for off-take agreements, without really understanding their products. It is crucial for biochar manufacturers to have their products tested so they can effectively market to soil blenders and end users.
Q Organic Mechanics has an impressive nationwide distribution. What is your approach to building markets for your products? What’s more important - educating customers or changing government policies?
A They are both important! We need to do both and there is so much to do. I am only one person and I do as much as I can to educate customers and decision makers. Thankfully, there are more events and conferences where I am being asked to speak about biochar to professionals who specify products like our Stormwater Blend. We can reach both the contractors who do environmental management projects and the agencies and elected officials who determine the specifications.
One group that is very important is the American Society of Landscape Architects. I had been invited to address their conference last year, but sadly, the COVID 19 virus cancelled that event.
Q What opportunities could the Biden administration’s two-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal offer?
A The proposal includes funds for water quality that could be a help but the amount in the budget is only approximately $58 billion. It seems like a lot, but over 50 states, it is just a drop in the bucket. I think that the way forward is for all of us in the industry to work locally and regionally to educate managers and customers who are concerned with stormwater management and mitigating nutrient pollution. We have a solution for them. I like to say that biochar could have an impact on the same scale as that of the chemical fertilizers that came in after World War II. Biochar will be a great good for humans as we continue to inhabit this earth.
Q What else should the biochar industry be doing to grow markets?
A We should all be supporting USBI. Tom Miles is doing great work as an advocate for biochar with policy makers, but USBI lacks resources. We should all be donating to USBI so they can continue the education and advocacy work that they do. In particular, we need to support USBI to work with AAPFCO (American Association of Plant Food Control Officers) to refine their biochar standards and allow multiple grades of biochar. That will open up more supply and reduce the price. Limited biochar supply keeps prices high and keeps biochar out of markets and applications that could really benefit from biochar.
You can order Mark Highland’s 2017 book: Practical Organic Gardening: The No-Nonsense Guide to Growing Naturally from Organic Mechanics and online book sellers. See more about Organic Mechanics in the USBI Biochar Directory.
Meet a Biochar Practitioner - Jim Doten, City of Minneapolis
March 2021
Photo: Jim Doten and Faatemah Ampey. Read about their Lake Street Beautification Project that uses biochar in planter boxes to help restore a Minneapolis neighborhood damaged by riots.
Jim Doten - Environmental Services Supervisor, City of Minneapolis
Q How did you get started in biochar?
A For me it started in Afghanistan in 2012. I was working for the city then, but got deployed with my National Guard unit. As a geo-hydrologist, I was asked to help poor farmers improve their soils that were depleted of nutrients and carbon. I developed a program for using crop waste to make biochar, but unfortunately, it was late in our mission and the follow-up unit was cut short. When I got home, I brought the idea of using biochar back to our city.
Q The programs you have developed in Minneapolis seem to fully deploy the potential of biochar. You cover all the bases, using biochar in urban agriculture, urban forestry, stormwater management, surface water cleanup, landscaping and remediation of toxic soil. What came first in this work?
A Our first project was working with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, who work with other Native Americans who live in the city and are marginalized with limited access to healthy food. The tribe operates the largest organic waste recycling facility in the region, so they have plenty of compost to combine with biochar to use in the community gardens they are developing. It’s a good fit because it relates to their traditional practice of smoldering crop waste to produce biochar in the field. Now they are using biochar to help propagate and preserve native seed lines of corn, beans and squash in the Three Sisters planting technique. We are here as a resource for them, but we are not directing the program. We are “on tap,” not “on top.”
Q You have multiple projects addressing storm water management, landscaping and surface water clean-up. How have you managed to do so much in such a short time?
A Things were a bit slow to start. I was the crazy guy in the corner bringing up biochar all the time. But when Bloomberg Philanthropy brought people from our City Council and Public Works to visit the Stockholm biochar project, that really helped everyone understand the potential, and started freeing up more resources. Now we have multiple agencies working on incorporating biochar into environmental management at all levels in the city and the region, including the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the University of Minnesota’s Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI). For instance, NRRI is testing biochar characteristics for us and is helping monitor the pilot projects.
Q What are you learning about matching biochar characteristics to applications?
A A lot. For instance, we found that biochar on its own won’t do much to keep phosphorus out of waterways, but when we combine it with an iron-sand filter, it works really well. We are now exploring biochar characteristics that will work best for removing e-coli from our lakes and streams, as well as organic toxicants such as PFAS. NRRI is also building a biochar stakeholders network to define markets, opportunities and barriers. We are really getting a lot of people on board with biochar in this state.
Q What is next for the city and for you?
A My current big project is to get local biochar production going. There are no commercial biochar producers in the state. We are in the early stages of an innovative district heating project that would use the heat generated by biochar production to augment a ground source heat pump system. As for me, I went from spending 20% of my time on biochar to about 50% now. My goal is to make sure we have at least one full time position in biochar in the Department of Health. I want this program to continue and grow after I retire.
Meet Biochar Practitioner - Tony Marerro, Wakefield Biochar
February 2012
How did you get into the biochar business?
My brother, while working on his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Missouri (UM) in the late 90s, used biochar to absorb radioactive isotopes. My father, a UM Professor of Chemical Engineering was also researching biochar properties in the early 2010s. So, my family has known about some of the interesting properties of biochar for quite some time.
We also did some of our own experiments with soil – I had an area in my yard where grass would not grow – and we found that biochar really helped. After I used it, the grass started growing really well. Biochar is not a miracle product but my eyes were wide open when I saw how well it worked for me. My professional background is in marketing. My thought was, I can sell this stuff! This is a simple material with many beneficial uses.
How did you go about getting a supply of biochar to sell? What were your biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge was finding a consistent product. Biochar can have variable properties, and in order to scale up we had to find a high quality, high volume supplier of biochar with consistent properties. We tried samples from all over the country and invested a lot in testing and finding qualified testing labs. Most of the labs we are working with are still in a learning mode on biochar. The cost of freight is another big challenge.
You just received FSC certification for Wakefield Biochar. How important is that to you?
It is very important. Wakefield Biochar is the first biochar product to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the gold standard of sustainable forestry certifications. Our goal is to paint the larger picture of what biochar can do. It’s not just about soil. It’s also about sustainability and making use of a waste stream that would normally sit in a landfill.
What will it take for you to get to the next level of biochar market penetration and sales?
We have done really well with our retail products – we offer several different biochar amendments and biochar-based soil blends. The last few years we have spent preparing our company to scale up responsibly. That hard work has already started to pay off in 2021. We are very thankful for the work that the biochar community has done to educate the public. People now know about the benefits and they want to try it. As the demand for biochar grows, we are prepared with our distribution plans. It is also critical that consumer information continue to grow. We offer a lot of educational resources on our site, and we want to do more. The new USBI Biochar Learning Database is a great resource that we are now including on our website at WakefieldBiochar.com.
Biochar Practitioner Josiah Hunt, Founder and CEO of Pacific Biochar
January 2021
PACIFIC BIOCHAR LANDS FIRST BIOCHAR CARBON CREDITS IN US
Pacific Biochar recently became the first company in the US to certify biochar for carbon credits. How did you make that happen?
The process of accomplishing one of the first successful certified biochar carbon credit projects in the US began years ago, involved the efforts of many, and required hard work and perseverance. The fact that Pacific Biochar happened to be the company to carry the baton across the finish line is perhaps due to a little bit of luck, and also, as my friend Jonah Levine, CEO of Biochar Solutions, Inc. put it, “vision and grit.”
On November 18, 2020 the first facility in North America was certified, and on November 30 the first credits were sold. To make this possible, there first had to be a methodology for calculating carbon sequestration and a trusted method for accurately predicting the stability of any given sample of biochar. After about a decade and a few thousand peer reviewed research articles, plus the combined efforts of a range of governmental and non-governmental international groups and some forward-thinking industry pioneers (e.g., Puro and Carbonfuture), a biochar carbon accounting methodology was finally accepted as mature enough to become active in voluntary markets.
Are any other North American biochar producers working on this?
Almost simultaneously, another California company, Carbo-Culture, was also working on registering their pilot facility for biochar carbon credits. It appears that Pacific Biochar may have beaten them to the punch by a matter of days – essentially irrelevant in the scheme of things – and a great sign that the efforts are repeatable with a variety of equipment and a variety of platforms. Carbo-Culture’s first credits are with Puro, while Pacific Biochar’s credits are with Carbonfuture. For Pacific Biochar, the process of reaching this milestone began nearly a year prior. Pioneering the process is never easy, but it is anticipated that future projects can be certified start to finish more quickly.
What are the steps that a biochar producer needs to take to certify biochar for carbon credits?
For other biochar producers looking to get started on this path, here is brief checklist of critical items you will need:
● Lab reports confirming the biochar is safe for use and with known permanence
● A third party Life Cycle Analysis and/or detailed accounting of:
○ feedstock characteristics and sourcing,
○ emissions associated with feedstock procurement, transportation, and processing
○ emissions associated with biochar production
○ energy consumption and energy generation balances of production
○ post-pyrolysis processing emissions, transportation, and packaging if any
○ ongoing confirmation of sequestration (i.e invoices and contracts confirming it was not/will not be burned)
What is the most important thing for readers to take-away from this news?
Two things: 1.) financially support the USBI and IBI, their work makes this possible; and 2.) in order to scale at the pace required to balance our planet’s CO2 budget before it’s too late, commitments for purchase of carbon credits are needed – it’s a runway we need for liftoff.”
Biochar Chuck Hegberg, Restoration Ecologist and USBI Board Member
November 2020
Using Biochar for Soil Repair and Stormwater Management
Why did you pursue a career in restoration ecology?
I got my degrees in restoration ecology and ecological planning at the same time as a big effort was launched to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. I have been pretty much working on that for my whole career.
Philosophically, I was attracted to restoration because I wanted to help nature. Many people are focused on preservation of natural areas but humanity has damaged and degraded so much land that there is a great need to reverse that.
I have found that nature heals itself, but we can do a lot to accelerate the healing process with different environmental technologies, so a stream that might eventually heal over geologic time frames can come back to life much more quickly. Still, we are not the ones who fix it, we just remove barriers so that the biology can move in and do the work.
How does biochar help with restoration?
I first came across biochar when I was doing training work in Africa in 2006. I saw a farmer using charcoal in soil there, and I started researching biochar. A few years later I had a brainstorm about water filtration – I realized that biochar could do the same thing that activated carbon does but at a much lower cost.
It was difficult to find information on biochar, so I started working with Dr. Paul Imhoff at the University of Delaware and other researchers at Delaware State University. We created to some field projects in stream restoration and stormwater management and were able to show the effectiveness of biochar in soil decompaction and water filtration. To take on this work, I started two companies: Terra Aeration does soil repair in urban environments and Infinite Solutions is supplying biochar and blended materials for soil repair and stormwater management.
What are some of the biggest roadblocks and what does the future look like for you?
Well, the good news is that more and more people are seeing the need for soil repair to improve water infiltration and water storage in soils. Regulators are looking for solutions. But they are slow to approve biochar in these applications and we are having to demonstrate biochar benefits through performance-based metrics. We are using third-party monitoring and working on BMPs (Best Management Practices). Another barrier is a lack of biochar producers in the mid-Atlantic region. Hopefully, that will change soon.
For more information, contact Infinite Solutions.
Biochar Donna Pion, General Manager, Green State Biochar
October 2020
Green State Biochar Rises to the Challenge
How did you get started with biochar?
Roger, my husband, and his friend Luke were looking for a new venture, not to make money so much as to do something good and meaningful. They came across biochar – this was about four years ago – and I started researching it. Meanwhile, before I got done learning about it, they had built a biochar kiln, because that is what they do. Luke is really good at inventing and making things from junkyard parts. Our continuous kiln can make 350 pounds of biochar in an eight-hour day. Biochar is a great project for the do-it-yourselfers.
What are you doing with the biochar product?
The problem we most wanted to solve is the state of our lakes here in Vermont. Phosphorous from dairies and other sources is causing terrible algal blooms. I started working on a business plan and the first step was to enter the Vermont Phosphorus Innovation Challenge – VPIC. This was a competitive grant and we were chosen as a finalist. The first part of the grant supported field trials using our phosphorus capture systems at dairies to process manure pit liquids. Our filters can remove 90 percent of the phosphorus. The final phase of the grant will let us build two newer, bigger pyrolysis machines than will quadruple our production capacity. And it will fund a market study for the phosphorus-enriched biochar product. We can sell it as a fertilizer, either in a loose or a pelleted form.
What's next for Green State Biochar?
One thing that is going to really help is to have Vermont write our filtration systems into their Best Management Practices (BMPs) for phosphorus capture. Once we have that, the state will help farmers install the filter units, paying 90% of the cost. We have bigger plans too – I am working on proposals right now to demonstrate a different style of biochar filter for cleaning up Lake Champlain.
We had a venture capitalist interview us and he asked us if we wanted to make biochar or if we wanted to make and sell biochar kilns. We want to do both! We will see where it all goes, but for me, as general manager, I am most passionate about creating good jobs. People need to have good work doing something meaningful with the local resources. I feel if we can make it work here in Vermont, you can replicate this anywhere there are forest products and dairies or other livestock. We can integrate these things to create stronger local economies and cleaner water.
For more information about Green State Biochar, visit their website.
Jack Hoeck, Rexius
September 2020
How did you get started with biochar?
I first heard about Terra Preta about 15 years ago. It was a fascinating idea. I kept my ear to the ground to learn more, but the information was scattered and not that convincing for a long time. Eventually, I connected with John Miedema of BioLogical Carbon, and he helped me give it a try in our composting operation. We composted two windrows, side by side, one with 5% by volume biochar added. The biochar pile was slower to heat up initially, but then it caught up and when we analyzed it 14 weeks later, it had more moisture, nitrates and other nutrients, and better quality overall, than the pile without biochar.
What are you doing now?
We use the biochar activated compost in about 8 different soil products that we make, as well as custom soil blends. We would use biochar in all of our products if we could afford it and if customers demanded it. Feedback we get from customers is that they like the biochar compost products, but the price is too high for some of them.
How can we improve the economics of biochar?
It would really help if some of the other benefits were monetized. Biochar reduces odors and greenhouse gas emissions from the composting process. We need to educate people about the benefits, but our company does not have money to fund an ad campaign for our biochar products. One difficulty is that early on, biochar was overhyped and there was misinformation about it that we have to overcome now. But we will get there. Biochar reminds me of the early days of the compost industry. We didn’t know much about compost 40 years ago. We know a lot more now. We do what we do with biochar and compost because we are confident of our claims. It takes time to develop a new industry. Bottom line, biochar is a very interesting material. Just like the extremely productive Terra Preta soils, all we need to do is put the right ingredients together and let time and Nature do the work.