Biochar
What is biochar?
When restoring landscapes, often the first step is removing invasive species. This results in large quantities of waste product such as invasive buckthorn and other brush. The common practice of burning waste in an open pile burn releases greenhouse gases, creates air pollution, and damages the soil where burning takes place.
There is an alternative that restores degraded land, mitigates climate change, improves soil and water quality, AND makes better use of the waste left behind after invasive species removal: biochar.
Biochar is a type of charcoal produced by heating organic material in a high-temperature, low-oxygen environment. Sometimes described as “supercharged charcoal,” biochar is part of a traditional farming practice that has received increasing attention in recent years for its use in land restoration and carbon sequestration.
Benefits of biochar
As Minnesota’s leader in nature-based climate solutions through land restoration, GRG is at the forefront of expanding the practice of burning waste materials in biochar kilns as part of natural systems management.
This “supercharged charcoal” bolsters conservation efforts in many ways:
It’s a low-tech option to provide a powerful, nature-based climate solution.
Producing biochar sequesters and stores carbon. In a kiln, up to 80% of the greenhouse gases that would have been emitted in an open pile burn are stored, and less smoke is produced.
The soil underneath the kiln is protected from the otherwise scorching heat of the fire.
Putting biochar back on the land improves soil health by retaining nutrients and water.
Working with Great River Greening
Great River Greening is one of the first in the state to move biochar production forward as part of natural systems management combining the following:
ON-DEMAND SERVICES BY TRAINED CREW - Hire our Greening Solutions crew! Working with your schedule, our trained crew implements the process efficiently and effectively.
ON-SITE SERVICES THROUGHOUT MINNESOTA - We are mobile! Rent our kilns and we can bring them to you.
EDUCATION - We can train your staff on how to best implement biochar for your setting.
PARTNERSHIP - Greening works with all varieties of land management professionals: municipalities, nonprofits, corporations, private landowners, and so on.
Get Started
Contact us today! Great River Greening can help you get started with biochar.
Additional Resources:
Natural System Management and the Need for Biochar Processing [VIDEO PRESENTATION] by Great River Greening and Dakota County
Photo Credits: Brush burning in a “ring of fire” biochar kiln (Julie Baumeister); GRG Conservation Director pours water on the kiln to quench the biochar (Bruce Nimmer); Expert GRG staff teaches volunteers about the benefits of biochar production (Bruce Nimmer); GRG staff and volunteers gather and cut brush to size before placing in the biochar kiln (Bruce Nimmer).