The role of biochar in increasing crop land productivity and the removal of atmospheric greenhouse gases

Biochar has been used by various civilisations for centuries to increase the fertility of soils. the Terra Pretta (dark earth) soils of the Amazon are still amongst the most fertile in the world. Anecdotally on the lead applicants farm, where large wooded areas were cleared in the 1960's the fire sites can still be seen, showing up as dark green, more healthy patches of crop.

Attention is being paid to biochar again as a means to turn farm waste streams, in particular tree and hedge prunings and soft fruit growth media (coir) that might otherwise get burnt on farm or sent to landfill, into biochar to apply to land. Biochar is a very stable form of carbon that will remain in the soil for centuries. When mixed with composts or manures it becomes activated as its millions of pores fill with nutrient, again making the nutrients more stable and more available to plants.

This project will investigate how a modern biochar production facility can play its part in the reversal of climate change and increasing productivity of soils on local farms in the Kent and Medway region. By working with an innovative plasma biochar retort and the University of Kent the project will demonstrate efficient on farm biochar production, demonstrate how much CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere and locked into soils and how biochar can increase soil fertility and productivity.

What makes this project innovative is that although this is an old technique no one at present has applied it in a modern context. The project shall seek to demonstrate how on farm biochar production can be brought into use to ensure more productive and climate resilient farming businesses.

The project will work out the life cycle analysis of the carbon embedded in biochar when applied to land and the benefits to soil fertility and in particular the soil microbiome and how that influences soil fertility.