What is biochar?

1 Aug

About Biochar

Residents at Beyond hold the natural environment in high regard as evidenced by our choice to join and support Beyond, a community with a higher than usual commitment to sustain and enhance our natural environment.

So it’s more than likely to find that most of the homes at Beyond are surrounded by extensive and carefully tended gardens. Given one of the founding principles of this community is the enhancement and enrichment of the natural environment, ecologically sound and advanced gardening methods and innovations are always welcome news.

Something that’s really not all that new in terms of its effects in the ecosystem but is now being recognised as a product for purposeful application is burnt-out vegetation as a soil conditioner. It is said that the natural regenerative properties of the charred vegetation left by bushfires are a redeeming positive after a fire. The charred remains of the vegetation are a naturally occurring soil conditioner.

It is instinctive for humans to ensure that such a benefit to the earth is not left solely to the randomness of Mother Nature. The age-old practice of slash-and-burn agriculture produced results similar to a naturallyoccurring bushfire. That practice is certainly not sustainable these days, nor is it at all acceptable or even possible in our society; so the process has been reduced to a small, highly contained imitation of the natural process.

So what is Biochar?

These days, the charred remains of fire can be manufactured for use as an agricultural additive. Biochar, a new form of slow-cooked, oxygen-deprived charcoal, besides being a powerful soil conditioner, locks carbon in the soil and in doing so benefits the atmosphere.

Physically Biochar is the same as charcoal made from the burnt reduction of wood and other biomass such as tree litter. Larger branches and trunks of trees are suitable for the production of larger lumps of charcoal for fuel, but biochar is meant to be spread out in garden soil and needs to be reduced to a more granular consistency.

It is therefore manufactured from the smaller branches and tree litter. Other benefits of biochar, besides the carbon capture and soil conditioning previously mentioned, include livestock feed supplement, water and air filtering and odour absorption in composting environments.

So what is entailed in the process of manufacturing this product? After the biomass is slowly and properly burnt in the oxygen-depriving kiln (open furnace) the coals are quenched (extinguished by covering them in water), drained and dried for storage.

The biochar is then reactivated by incorporating worm castings, garden compost, liquid organic fertiliser or aged animal manure. This creates a bio-haven for the microbes that feed the soil and plants once mixed into the soil.

We have biochar producers nearby, in Macclesfield, who produce biochar for home gardeners and are expanding to supply Councils with biochar to support their tree planting operations. The group also promotes the culture and techniques of production and offer demos and workshops to promote the environmental benefits and to encourage the craft of backyard manufacture of biochar.

To acquire biochar for your garden and for more information contact Maccy Biochar at: maccybiochar@adam.com.au or : www.maccybiochar.com

This is a growing group and would welcome new members ($20 annually, application forms on the website) and volunteers to assist with their training and demonstrations.

Perhaps one day we can have them here at Beyond to further spread the culture to our residents and produce some biochar to spread on our own gardens.