BIOCHAR
Biochar Is One Technology That Can Positively Reverse The Production Of Carbon And Methane Into The Atmosphere While Improving Food Supplies, Cleaning Water, And Employing Millions Of People In Locally Based Economies
Learn More About Biochar
Biochar is the carbonized form of biomass. Biochar is produced through a process known as pyrolysis, which is the heating of biomass stock in an oxygen deprived environment to temperatures upward from 300 C to around 600 C (or 572 f -- 1,112 F ). Biochar production for use as a soil amendment is recently renewed practice that is centuries old. Most commonly known association is with the terra prete soils of the amazon region where the carbon rich biochar was regularly added to garden soils.
Biochar provides a unique opportunity to improve soil fertility for the long term using locally available materials. It can be used alone or in conjunction with compost, manure, minerals, and/or agrochemicals. Of note, is that the application amounts of water and fertilizer can be reduced when using it with biochar while realizing the increasing benefits to the productions. Biochar can help the environment remove toxins and through production of environmentally friendly products including energy as biofuels, as numerous agricultural application, and as numerous other products still in the R&D; stages.
BIOCHAR IS ONE TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN POSITIVELY REVERSE THE PRODUCTION OF CARBON AND METHANE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE WHILE IMPROVING FOOD SUPPLIES, CLEANING WATER, AND EMPLOYING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN LOCALLY BASED ECONOMIES.
Benefits To The Soil
- Enhanced plant growth
- Suppressed methane emission
- Reduced nitrous oxide emission (estimate 50%)
- Reduced fertilizer requirement (estimate 10%)
- Reduced leaching of nutrients
- Stored carbon in a long term stable sink
- Reduces soil acidity: raises soil pH
- Reduces aluminum toxicity
- Increased soil aggregation due to increased fungal hyphae
- Improved soil water handling characteristics
- Increased soil levels of available Ca, Mg, P, and K
- Increased soil microbial respiration
- Increased soil microbial biomass
- Stimulated symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes
- Increased arbuscular mycorrhyzal fungi
- Increased cation exchange capacity biochar
What We Know
- Biochar (charcoal) is created by burning wood or similar materials in an oxygen free or oxygen deprived environment. biochar is not ash that comes out of your wood burning stove.
- The addition of biochar to soil has profoundly positive effects on the environment that are extensive and long lasting. By some estimates the lifespan of biochar in soil is in excess of 1,600 years.
- The amount needed is quite small- from 3 oz. per cubic foot to an upper limit of around 16 oz. per cubic foot.
- There is a definite, noticeable period of productivity lag after adding biochar directly to the soil if it is not activated with micro-nutrients. Biochar needs to be “charged” or “activated” with minerals trace elements, and micro-organisms prior to it being able to contribute to soil fertility. The best way to do this is in compost, preferably a manure-based compost that already has minerals, trace elements, and a microbiome base colonization.
- Adding a mineral and trace element rich supplement to the biochar/compost greatly increases the nutrient cycling and “activation” of the biochar.
- The time period needed to “charge” the biochar is at least six months, preferably a year.
- Soon after adding biochar to compost, the fungal, microbial and earthworm activity drastically increases.
- Adding biochar to compost speeds up the decomposition by several times.
- The ideal size for the biochar chunks is between the size of rice and corn.
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