How to produce Biochar

What is biochar?
Biochar is a carbon rich solid material obtained from biomass when it is heated to temperature exceeding 450°C with low oxygen supply. This process - pyrolysis - turns biomass into a stable form of carbon that can be used as a soil amendment to improve soil fertility. To be effective, biochar has to be loaded with nutrients and microbial life, e.g. by co-composting, with manure or other nutrient-rich material.
For the production of biochar different types of kilns can be used. In this video, we used a Kon-Tiki which is a low-tech and low-cost option. You can learn more about Kon-Tikis through the Ithaka Institute: www.ithaka-institut.org
Within the ETH-Soil project, we use biochar as the base for biofertilizers. Loaded with nutrients from compost or biogas digestate, biochar has the potential to bring long-lasting improvement to degraded soils.
ETH-Soil is a Project of the DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnützige GmbH and funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development
Project page: www.eth-soil.com
Music: "Montauk Point" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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