New Frontier » Soil http://blog.new-frontier.com Solutions for an Accelerating World Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:07:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Biochar Applications in the Developing World http://blog.new-frontier.com/2009/10/30/biochar-applications-in-the-developing-world/ http://blog.new-frontier.com/2009/10/30/biochar-applications-in-the-developing-world/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:39:20 +0000 Nate http://blog.new-frontier.com/?p=262 A great example of using new technologies in the developing world. As I mentioned earlier this week, as we get closer to a carbon bill, there will be a wide application for any process that upgrades soil contents.

The core of re:char’s technology, Jason explained, is a process called pyrolisis, which takes place by heating to biomass like wood or agricultural waste in the absence of oxygen. Pyrolisis separates biomass and turns it into two main bi-products: a liquid fuel called bio-oil and bio char. Bio-oil is the used to run an energy generator and the remaining biochar can be applied back to the ground, enriching the soils and accelerating the process of carbon capture. Other models involving biomass do one of the two, Jason told me, either turning biomass into charcoal which can then be used, to operate cooking stoves or into energy through gasification processes. Jason’s model is different in that energy needs for lighting and cooking can be met through bio-oil, leaving char available to be put back into the ground, producing both environmental benefits (making the process carbon negative) and social benefits in the form of increased agricultural yields.

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