INTERNATIONAL BIOCHAR NEWS
October 2019
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Highlights from this Month's News
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In this month's edition, look for news, ideas and trends like these:
- From Organic to Climate Farming
- ANZBC 2019 Recap
- Livestock/Dung Beetle/Soil Cascades
- Compostable bioplastics
- Biochar sparks a regional economic development program
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Welcome to Our New Corporate Members...
Note: bio below were provided by members (or from website) and not authored by IBI.
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BUSINESS MEMBER:
EcoTopic AB
Kolmården, Sweden
We who founded and run EcoTopic AB are called Mattias Gustafsson and Lotta Ek. Biocarbon and the development of the market is our passion. We work with our customers to plan for, develop and get started with the production or use of biocarbon. The responsibility for the biocarbon's potential in soil improvement, carbon reduction and other applications lies with all of us in the industry. That is why we work actively to drive the development forward through a broad commitment in both research, private and public sector. Our assignments include feasibility studies, project planning & project management, funding applications, lectures & training both in Sweden and internationally.
We always work together in our assignments. Our competences complement each other and it provides the best delivery to our customers. If the assignments require, we also have a large network of experts that we are happy to engage with.
The biocarbon industry is growing at a furious pace and it takes both passion and time to keep up to date. Our strength is that biocarbon is what we do. It's not a side interest, it's our passion.
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ORGANIZATION MEMBER:
AgriProtein
Guilford, UK
- We are a sustainable natural protein business
- We produce high protein feed ingredient for farmed animals, fish & pets
- We recycle waste nutrients
- We produce right at the point of use
- Eight years of Science & Technology R&D
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ORGANIZATION MEMBER:
The Italian Biochar Association (ICHAR)
Firenze, Italy
ICHAR, the Italian Biochar Association aims at promoting technologies, studies, and educational activities related to biochar production and its use in agriculture to sequester atmospheric CO2 in the soil and improve soil fertility.
ICHAR, is a no-profit organization, and was established in 2009, to create synergy and collaboration between the research institutions and the private sector in promoting solutions related to the use of biochar as a possible strategy to mitigate GHG emissions and simultaneously increase crop productivity.
In 2012 ICHAR presented a request to the Italian Ministry of Agriculture to include biochar in the list of amendants for agriculture. The request provide the standards for biochar definition and characterization and has been developed by an interdisciplinary group coordinated by ICHAR.
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Current Corporate Members
ADVANCED RESILIENT BIOCARBON LLC
AGRINOVA
AGRIPROTEIN
ALL POWER LABS
AMERICA SEQUESTERS CO2, LLC
AMERICAN BIOCHAR COMPANY
APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
APPLIED BIOMASS SOLUTIONS, LLC
ARIES CLEAN ENERGY
AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND BIOCHAR INITIATIVE INC. (ANZBI)
BEES SAS
BIOCARBON FORWARD
BLACKWOOD SOLUTIONS
CARBO CULTURE
CARBOFEX OY
CARBON GOLD LTD
CENIPALMA
CHAMPION WASTE & RECYCLING SERVICE
CITY LIGHT CAPITAL
CONCORD BLUE ENERGY
COOL PLANET
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
CUMMINS, INC
EARTH SYSTEMS CONSULTING
ECOTOPIC AB
HUSK VENTURES SL
ICHAR ITALIAN BIOCHAR ASSOCIATION
INTERNATIONAL BIOREFINERIES, LLC
K&S INDUSTRIES
LENZ ENTERPRISES INC
LERCHENMUELLER CONSULTING
NATIONAL CARBON TECHNOLOGIES
NKG TROPICAL FARM MANAGEMENT GMBH
NO FOSSIL FUEL, LLC / CLEAN POWER, INC.
NORTH SUBURBAN TREE SERVICE, INC.
NORTHERN CALAMIAN FARMING INC.
NPO KITAKYU CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
OPLANDSKE BIOENERGI AS
OREGON BIOCHAR SOLUTIONS
PURE LIFE CARBON INC.
PYREG GMBH
RAINBOW BEE EATER PTY LTD
Thomas Casten
ROI
SENECA FARMS BIOCHAR LLC
SLB GROUPE (CAMPOS VERDES, SYLVA FERTILIS)
SOILTEST FARM CONSULTANTS
SON AMAR
SONNENERDE - KULTURERDEN GMBH
STANDARD BIO AS
SYNCRAFT
T R MILES TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS INC.
THE TROLLWORKS
UPM UMWELT-PROJEKT-MANAGEMENT GMBH
WAKEFIELD AGRICULTURAL CARBON
WEST BIOFUELS
YORK REGION ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE
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ORGANIZATION MEMBER:
National Carbon Technologies
Bloomington, Minnesota
United States
We are the global leader in production of high value carbon products from renewable biomass. We operate the largest advanced biocarbon production facility in North America with capacity to convert hundreds of thousands of tons of biomass into patented carbon products.
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And Welcome Again to Our Renewing Corporate Members...
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BUSINESS MEMBER: Carbon Gold
Bristol, UK
Carbon Gold was founded by Craig Sams, founder of Green & Blacks Chocolate, back in 2007 as an organic, peat-free planting aid for the retail sector.
With a few years of incredible results from third-party scientific trials looking into enriched biochar’s effect on plant health, our natural organic biochar products were quickly adopted by the commercial crop growing, tree care and sports turf sectors.
Our customers range from those commercial horticulture and tree care sectors to home growers, NGOs and community cooperatives. We have also worked with some of the world’s major food brands including Mars, Nestlé and Kraft and our tree care products are used in the Royal Parks and Gardens of the UK.
The sustainability of our products is assured by the FSC®, we’re certified organic by the Soil Association, we’re partners with LEAF, approved for use in Dutch growing systems by the RHP and in biodynamic systems by Demeter.
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BUSINESS MEMBER:
Cool Planet
Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA
Cool Planet is an agricultural technology company that develops, and markets Engineered Biocarbon™ technology products for soil health, food security. and global sustainability. The company’s first commercial product line is Cool Terra®, an award winning soil amendment, which works to improve key soil performance characteristics for greater plant productivity. Cool Terra® is also carbon negative. Cool Terra® provides sustainability and profitability for agriculture, landscape, turf, nursery, ornamental and other green industry markets. Cool Planet is also innovating fixed carbon (biocarbon) based technologies for animal nutrition, microbial delivery, and early plant establishment products to adress the growing global concerns of soil health, food security, and sustainability.
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BUSINESS MEMBER:
Advanced Resilient Biocarbon LLC
Cold Spring, NY, USA
Advanced Resilient Biocarbon (ARB), the American affiliate of Advanced Resilient Technology, Limited (ART), an international technology development company, provides globally applicable, locally deployable systems to generate revenue while addressing critical environmental and resource challenges with transformative improvements.
ARB systems provide local solutions utilizing waste to generate clean energy, support sustainable economies, and restore environmental habitat—including offering carbon sequestration. ARB systems generate perpetual revenues to recoup investments, generate profits and fund sustainable waste elimination solutions for the future. Using innovative technology to increase the productivity and efficiency of time-proven methods, ARB reclaims organic wastes by generating energy (electricity and heat), Elemental Char™ and Formulated Char™.
ARB's Chars renew valuable resources to be used for environmental filtration, cleaning and restoration. They can be sold to a wide variety of markets and to obtain carbon credits. By transforming waste streams that otherwise are deposited in landfills or released into waterways, ARB systems significantly reduce vast quantities of formerly unusable waste streams by transforming them into usable products for enabling environmental recovery, meeting energy needs and supplying industrial processes.
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BUSINESS MEMBER: Earth Systems
Hawthorn, Australia
Earth Systems is a multidisciplinary environmental and social consulting firm, which develops and implements innovative and effective environment, water and sustainability solutions throughout the world. Established in 1993, we have successfully completed over 500 major projects in Australia, Asia, Africa, South America, North America and the Pacific.
Earth Systems provides high quality services and solutions in the areas of environmental and social impact assessment, water management and treatment, ecology, energy efficiency, carbon accounting, community consultation and development.
Our research and development capabilities help to ensure that we are leaders in finding new and more sustainable solutions to complex environmental problems.
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There is good news and bad news out of a
study
of how a complete switch to organic farming would affect the UK. The good news is that greenhouse gas emissions for croplands would drop by 20%. The bad news is that the amount of land needed would be 40% greater (the emissions from change in land use more than offsetting the lower emissions from existing farmland).
While many
headlines
that seized on this report seemed to disparage organic agriculture, the study can be read to say that organic agriculture is just not enough, especially since fossil fuel-derived fertilizers are going to become scarce as the end of that age plays out. If switching to organic agriculture is not going to be enough, we need to think about more productive options. Biochar as a component of regenerative and/or climate farming has the potential to raise yields sustainably without reliance on fossil fuel inputs. As we see in
a paper
listed under “New Research” at the end of this month’s newsletter, biochar boosts the effect of inorganic fertilizer significantly. We would expect a similar or even greater boost when using organic fertilizer.
The geographic context of the UK study is also key. Conventional farming in temperate regions might currently be sustained above critical humus concentrations of 1 to 2 percent, however nearly 90 percent of starving populations live in regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America where humus has fallen below critical levels. Organic farming and biochar amendment are essential in those regions to restoring the arability of soils through rapid humus accumulation. (Ute Scheub, 2016)
Lest the reporting on the UK study leave us uncertain about weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, we need to remember that organic agriculture has evolved in the past 20 years, leading to improvements in yields and resiliency under the related constructs of regenerative agriculture and climate farming. Biochar can play a major role in the former and is the
ne plus ultra
of the latter.
While we’re on the topic of climate farming, another
notable paper
(along with its
supplementary info
) proposes a roadmap of mitigations needed to reduce atmospheric carbon. Twenty-four activity types are modeled under the land sector, with biochar placing highly. Soil carbon sequestration (including biochar application) is modeled to grow to 1.3 GtCO
2
e yr
-1
by 2050, second to
ecosystem restoration and preservation
in terms of carbon removals. China, EU, US, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Sub-Saharan Africa could contribute the most to sequestering soil carbon.
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Works Cited
Ute Scheub, Haiko Pieplow, Hans-Peter Schmidt, Kathleen Draper (2016). Humus Production by Climate Farming. In
Terra Preta:
How the World's Most Fertile Soil can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger
(pp. 68 - 76). Vancouver, BC, Canada: Greystone/David Suzuki Institute.
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The organizers of the 2019 IBI Biochar World Congress, 10 – 14 November, Seoul, are pleased to present the Program
Overview
along with the
Full Program
. Both can be accessed from the IBI website.
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AUSTRALIA AND THE PACIFIC
Biochar Down Under, Tom Miles, Chair, IBI
I had the privilege of visiting with biochar producers and users at the Australia New Zealand Biochar Initiative (ANZBI) 2019 study tour and conference, October 20-26. Delegates were from the Pacific Islands (Vanuatu), Tasmania, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, and USA. The conference was attended by millennial and broadacre farmers and ranchers, researchers, biochar producers, policy makers and advocates of all kinds.
The study tour included: a visit to test plots in Portland, Victoria, hosted by Helen Phillips (widow of Doug Phillips d. 2018) of Triple R Biochar, the Glenelg Shire and the Southwest Environment Alliance; a Tasmanian Kon Tiki demonstration by Frank Strie at Bambra Agroforestry Farm; dung beetle viewing on the Cashmore Oklea sheep farm; seeing the Rainbow Bee Eater gasifier providing heat and power to Ian Lions’ Holla-Fresh herb greenhouse and a tour of their composting partner BioGro which supplies the fuel and takes the biochar; and presentations and lengthy discussions about the research, production and use of biochar in orchards, fertilizers, feeds and construction. We even had Aussie Russel Burnett skyping from his new Applied Gaia carbonizer in Florida.
The three day conference in Melbourne included plenary and breakout discussions of many creative ways of using biochar for a wide variety of commercial applications in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Austria and elsewhere including displays of biochar used in concrete structures, aggregate, cosmetics, wood vinegar, biosolids, and 3-D printing of biochar amended concrete. The conference ended with a visit to see the high-quality biochar and wood vinegar from Earth Systems carbonizers.
It was a special treat to see how far the knowledge, experience and commercial applications of biochar has advanced in the last 12 years since the IBI meeting in Terrigal, New South Wales in 2007, and to discuss practical methods of applying biochar for soil, feed, and orchard crops with Gerald Dunst (Sonnenerde), Dominik Dunst (Charline), Doug Pow (PowBrook) and others. As farmer-researcher Lukas van Zwieten says, we know the science, let’s find ways to develop more biochar users.
Many thanks to organizer Don Coyne and his ANZBI committee for an entertaining and productive event. Presentations will be available on the ANZBI website.
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Doug Pow’s success in recruiting dung beetles to cultivate his farm with biochar-laden cattle manure has not only attracted interest from scientists in Australia, but also internationally, in the quest to mitigate the
climate effects of livestock.
A study tour held in conjunction with the ANZBI Conference also visited a
sheep
ranch following a similar process.
EUROPE
Research on biochar in cattle feed is popping up all over, as with
this farm
in Great Britain.
The European Biochar Industry Consortium led by Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, CEO of Carbuna includes three IBI-member companies in the founding group:
Pyreg
,
Sonnenerde
, and
Syncraft
.
A
spray-on biochar
-containing soil cover is showing promise for contaminated sites.
Did you ever imagine you would be able to make biochar in the comfort of your own home? Pricey, but there is now
a device
t
hat makes it possible.
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Biochar comes to Nantes!
Bioenergy Events and Services (BEES) is delighted to announce that biochar is getting, for the first time, a major showing at the international bioenergy exhibition
Bio360
in Nantes (France), 29-30 January. In partnership with IBI, who will be present to represent the global biochar movement, a dedicated exhibition area for biochar actors and a two-day biochar international conference (English/French) is putting biochar firmly on the agenda for the 5000 international visitors and 400 exhibitors from over 20 countries.
The multiple cross-over points between biochar and bioenergy make this platform not only highly relevant but also one which promises to expose the virtues and possibilities of biochar to a large number of potential biochar uptakers, technology providers, biomass fuel specialists, research institutes, policy makers, and green financiers … amongst others !
The full conference programme and other details will be published near the end of November. We hope to see you there. - the BEES Team.
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NORTH AMERICA
U.S. land managers with woody residues can get USDA assistance to produce biochar under a new Enhancement Code in the
Conservation Stewardship Program
.
A
pictorial story
of how this campaign succeeded was recently featured by USDA. The low-tech methods used in the pilot project are also detailed in links that accompany the story.
A Saskatchewan company that has been making various biochar products for over 10 years is developing the world’s first
carbon negative compostable bio-plastics
for food containers and agricultural plastics.
Learn from this podcast about how biochar can be used in an
urban
context.
Maryland’s draft plan
to achieve their climate goals includes biochar as one emerging technology. One possibility it addresses is biochar as an ameliorant for greenhouse gas emissions from dredge spoils.
Mineral Wells, Texas is aiming to lead Palo Pinto County into becoming a
regional biochar center
. They have been in talks with nine prospective biochar companies and expect to announce a major corporate partnership soon.
Something from Biochar2019 must have rubbed off on city managers in Fort Collins, Colorado. They have been using biochar to
reduce odors from a public lake
. A quick fix that apparently works!
AFRICA
IBI member AgriProtein wastes no part of the black soldier fly larvae who are the key players in their
process to treat fecal sludge
. In one of their South African treatment plants, residue of larvae comprising the third cascade in the process are used to make biochar.
Takachar
, a biochar company using technology and logistics developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), continues its crowdfunding campaign! Their
Indiegogo site
contains videos and many details about the project.
According to Prof. Kwame Agyei Frimpong, at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, biochar was added to soil together with NPK fertilizer and maize yields improved up to 300% in a three-year study.
SOUTHERN ASIA
Biochar could be the solution to crop burning that
Indian farmers
have been looking for.
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Biochar-related opportunities, jobs, and education
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Carbon 180 is offering Entrepreneur-in-Residence Fellowships to teams or individuals to support visionary leaders in becoming carbon removal innovators through a program designed to:
- Accelerate learning of carbon-removal technologies and opportunities
- Make introductions to deep industry and technical networks
- Provide a funded runway while they study, design and test new carbon removal business models. Apply.
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We are seeking a new Editor to take over this monthly newsletter. As with all IBI positions, this job is unpaid, but well compensated by the information acquired and impact you can have on the growing biochar industry, as well as the chance to interface with key figures in the world of biochar. Please e-mail
info@biochar-international.org
to express your interest. If you have questions of the current Editor about this position, call him at (410) 231-1348.
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Mark your calendar for a
series of webinars
hosted by the UK Biochar Research Center to be live-streamed 3 pm (Central European Time) on each Thursday from October through the first part of December. Each session will include two 25-minute talks about current research presented by participating scientists from Europe, Australia, and North America. The Green Carbon Webinar videos are also available to view following the live sessions.
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For those who like to keep indoor plants, a layer of biochar at the bottom of any
pots without holes
will help prevent anoxia from killing the lower roots. As for plants in your garden, Carbon Gold CEO Simon Manley offers five other
helpful tips
for using biochar. He should know. Part of one of the UK’s most winning gardener’s secret to
huge vegetables
is
Carbon Gold’s Biology Blend
, now available in retail quantities.
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January 29 -30, 2020 Nantes, France. Includes a biochar exhibit section plus two days dedicated to biochar.
See more under Europe news brief.
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AGU Fall Meeting
December 9 -13, 2019 San Francisco. Session B092 will cover Pyrogenic Organic Matter: Production, Characterization and Cycling in the Environment.
https://www2.agu.org/en/Fall-Meeting
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Biochar Forum
November 1, 2019 Riverside, Tasmania, Australia. An educational event for the Tamar Valley Region supporting establishment of the Tasmanian Biochar Initiative.
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Compost 2020
January 28 -31, 2020 Charleston, SC.
US Composting Council conference will include a panel and presentations on the synergies of biochar and compost.
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I
BI Biochar World Congress 2019
November 10 - 14, 2019, Seoul, Korea
Towards Biochar Global Market Development
November 10 - 14, 2019, Seoul, Korea. Sharing knowledge on all aspects of biochar among a broad international scientific community, policy makers and industrial personnel.
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Here are some of the papers authored by IBI members out of over 280 articles included in the latest monthly list available on
your IBI Member homepage
. The full list contains topical emphasis, selected excerpts from abstracts, and are grouped by subject to make it easy for you to find articles of interest. You can automatically receive the full research paper list by e-mail every month by
joining IBI.
If you have already not done so, joining is an easy way to up your game.
Another way to stay on the cutting edge is to download the journal
Biochar
which offers open access as they build reader awareness. The second issue came out in October.
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From the Abstract:
“The CEC value of the untreated biochar was measured to be anywhere between 14 and 17 cmol/kg. A 90 min dry ozonization treatment resulted in an increased biochar CEC value of 109–152 cmol/kg.”
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- Bioretention Systems that Retain Metals too:
From the Abstract:
“... columns amended with compost and biochar removed more than 50–70% of influent metals, whereas iron-oxide coated sand was much less effective. ... The results suggest that both waste-derived compost and biochar show promising potential for stormwater harvesting, while biochar is expected to be more recalcitrant and desirable in field-scale bioretention systems.”
From the Abstract:
“The [20% food waste, 80% wood waste biochar] showed the highest CO
2
adsorption capacity, while higher percentage of food waste in the feedstock was unfavorable for the CO
2
adsorption.”
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- Bio-MUC - Making Urea Cool:
From the Abstract:
“In the leaching experiment over 30 days, cumulative N release as NH
4
+
-N and of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was significantly smaller by >70% and by 8% from the [biochar-mineral urea composite (Bio-MUC)] than from [urea fertilizer (UF)]. In pot culture with maize growing for 50 days, total fresh shoot was enhanced by 14% but fresh root by 25% under Bio-MUC compared to UF.”
- Making Fertilizer Better:
From the Abstract:
“Compared with the non‐fertilized control, a 26% ... increase in yield was observed with the use of [inorganic fertilizers (IF)] only, whereas that of biochar along with IF caused a 48% ... increase. Compared to the use of IF only, the addition of biochar along with IF caused a 15% ... increase in yield, indicating that biochar was as effective as fertilizers in increasing crop yields when added in combination. ... Our results also suggest that biochar application rates > 10 t ha
‐1
do not contribute to greater crop yield (at least in the short term).”
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IBI offers several options to work with your organization on collaborative scientific projects. Please see the following list for more information and to sign up.
Click here!
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