, , ,

A Mid-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester Creates On-Farm Renewable Energy

By Chris Lent, NCAT Agriculture Specialist

I’ve always found ways to turn “waste materials” into useful resources on the farm fascinating. On my farm, I tried to reuse and recycle resources as much as possible to close the off-farm input loop. I think farms can become more resilient as they rely on fewer off farm inputs. So, when I heard of the mid-scale anaerobic digester being installed at Dickenson College Organic Farm as a demonstration of how small dairy farms can utilize manure and other waste streams to produce on farm energy, I was eager for the opportunity to visit the farm and help spread the word to other farms.

In November 2023, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Eric Fuchs-Stengel and I had that opportunity. We traveled to Dickenson College Organic Farm in Carlisle, PA to visit Matt Steiman, Farm Energy and Livestock Manager at the farm. The farm is a beautiful certified organic working farm situated on 90 acres in the south-central part of the state where they grow vegetables and raise beef, lamb, and layers. Eric and I were there to shoot a video tour of the newly installed, mid-scale anaerobic biodigester that transforms manure from a neighboring dairy, as well as food waste from the college dining hall and local restaurants, into natural gas that can be used to generate heat and electricity.

This biodigester project comes after years of biofuel research and experimentation by Steiman at the college. The idea of using waste products from the farm and local area to produce fuel and power greatly intrigued Steiman, so he started making biodiesel that converted waste cooking oil into fuel to run equipment on the farm. Since the glycerin byproduct from biodiesel production can be useful in anaerobic digestion of organic matter that produces natural gas, he started experimenting in 2010 with small anaerobic digester systems to utilize glycerin, leading to a series of larger systems and culminating with the latest farm-scale biodigester.

The process of anaerobic digestion for production of natural gas is straightforward. A sealed tank creates an anaerobic, or oxygen-free, environment where a slurry of organic matter can be “eaten” or digested by microbes that thrive at certain temperatures in low-oxygen conditions. The methane gas given off from the microbes in this process rises to the top of the tank to an outlet tube where it can be collected and used as a fuel source for heat or electric production. The leftover digestate, which contains all the nutrients from the original waste material, is collected and spread on farm fields.

The size and cost of this new biodigester project required very specific design considerations to ensure that it was sized properly to match the expected waste flow and operate as intended. The digester tank is a 10-foot tall, 115,000-gallon, 50-foot-diameter cement tank buried 8 feet in the ground and sealed with a heavy-duty rubber covering. In the tank are heater pipes and an agitator to mix the slurry. A free-style barn was built next to the tank to house the dairy cows and heifers. At one end of the barn are three in-ground cement tanks that make up the waste-collection system for the digester. One tank is for daily manure collection, the second is for food waste collection (up to 3 tons per day), and the third is for collecting the digestate material remaining after the digestion process. The digestate goes through a liquid removal process and can then be used for bedding in the barn. The liquid portion of the digestate is staged to be used as a nutrient source for the farm’s crop fields and compost piles.

This digester is sized to produce enough gas to match a 50-kilowatt (kW) combined heat and power (CHP) engine. An engine from the European company TEDOM adapted to biogas was chosen for the job. The power produced will first be used to supply the power needs of the farm and the biodigester itself with excess electric production being sold back to the local utility company. This unique 150-cow-scale digester is small compared to other on farm digesters in the United States.

Matt Steiman explaining how an industrial grinder works to break down up to 3 tons of food waste a day so it can be pumped to the digester tank

Matt Steiman explaining how an industrial grinder works to break down up to 3 tons of food waste a day so it can be pumped to the digester tank. Photo: NCAT

Funding for this project was secured from multiple sources, including NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). For farmers looking for biodigester funding, Steinman had several suggestions. First, he said, talk to your Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) county office. In addition, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) is a grant program administered through USDA’s Rural Development office. Through REAP, farmers and rural businesses who meet grant criteria can apply for grant funding up to 50% of the cost of an on-farm alternative energy project, including anaerobic biodigesters. Steiman also suggested talking to your state Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Management or Protection as funding sources. It is also worth investigating local conservation districts and utility companies that may offer funding for on-farm alternative energy projects.

With this new biodigester, Steiman and Dickenson College are using farm and food-waste streams to generate renewable energy right on the farm and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With nearly 5,000 dairy farms in Pennsylvania alone with an average herd size of 100 cows, this project is intended to showcase how biogas production can work for mid-sized farms across the state and the country. The college is partnering with Penn State University and agriculture producer groups like PASA Sustainable Agriculture to use this project as an on-the-ground demonstration of properly sized biodigester design and implementation and to educate farmers on the benefits of biogas production at this scale.

Related ATTRA Resources:

Episode 350. Mid-Scale Biodigester with Matt Steiman of Dickinson College

Biodiesel Use, Handling, and Fuel Quality 

Micro-Scale Biogas Production: A Beginners Guide 

Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Wastes: Factors to Consider

Other Resources:

Biogas – Dickinson College Organic Farm 

Organic Farm Dickinson College – YouTube 

Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants 

On-Farm Energy Initiative, NRCS 

This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

For one Montana rancher, success starts in the soil

Combining worms and biochar has big potential for soil health

In the dry, rugged hills of Eastern Montana, third-generation rancher Steve Charter has managed to carve out a living practicing his own brand of regenerative agriculture. It starts with caring for his soil at a microscopic level to help the rest of the food chain flourish. His current prize crop is an animal that no livestock grower would think to raise, but one that’s essential for a healthy ecosystem: worms.

“I’ve been doing it for about seven years, and we have several worm beds that we feed,” Charter said. “We’re focusing more on what’s going on under the soil than on the surface–that’s where all the really new exciting ideas are happening.”

Adding New Life to the Land

Charter isn’t using the worms themselves–more what they leave behind. Vermicast is, simply put, composted worm poop. Their “castings” create a rich black loam packed with beneficial organisms, natural acids and hormones. The worms’ digestive systems break down nutrients like nitrogen and calcium, making them easier for plants to absorb. Vermicast is almost always a net improvement to any soil.

The first thing Charter did with the vermicast was mix it in his water tanks so the cattle would ingest the microorganisms. “It has amazing health and production benefits. It’s almost magic in a way,” he said.

On his family’s ranch north of Billings, Charter is constantly experimenting with ways to add new life to the land by manufacturing biodiversity with a cocktail of unlikely ingredients. Beneficial microbes and fungi are generated through a process that uses vermicast and biochar to infuse tiny life and nutrients into the grassland pastures.

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance and the byproduct of superheated organic matter that can be turned into compost, animal fodder, and even building materials. When used correctly, biochar can pack a punch far above its weight in building soil structure and fertility. Made up of millions of microscopic cells, there is as much surface area in a teaspoon of biochar as in a football field.

“When we do our vermicast or biochar, it passes through the manure and gets charged with all this biological activity,” Charter said. “There are major studies with good data showing that biochar fed to animals has really strong health effects. It’s possible to restore the range by using our animals to spread the biology and get them to do the work for us.”

Plowing, overgrazing, chemicals and invasive species have degraded a range that’s been in constant production since the 1800s. Charter says he has implemented innovative grazing practices since taking over the ranch in the 80s, aiming to recreate the buffalo’s effect on the land.

Soil health isn’t just on the minds of producers like Charter. The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is asking Congress to invest in biochar research to provide more insight into its larger-scale applications through the next Farm Bill under the bipartisan Biochar Research Network Act. If passed, the bill will authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a national-scale research program to test different biochar types in different soils and circumstances. With better research will come innovation and practical tools for farmers, ranchers, foresters, and businesses to lean into biochar as a climate solution.

‘We don’t have to know it all’

Modest and self-deprecating, Charter admits he’s still learning about regenerative agriculture. He says the industry has a long way to go before these practices are used on a large scale, but things are constantly changing. Lingering questions about research and scalability can be answered with more research and government funding from the Farm Bill currently winding its way through Congress.

“There’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle,” Charter said. “Our soil knowledge has really advanced in the last 15 years. To get benefits, we don’t have to know it all. We can just start experimenting. It’s going to take some key research, but I don’t think we need to let that stop us.”

 

Biochar Is Key to Cascading Benefits in Innovative Carbon Chicken Project

Fifth-generation Arkansas farmer Jody Hardin was introduced to a potentially game-changing soil additive through a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant in 2011. That’s when Hardin began studying biochar—a charcoal-like material that can be mixed in soil to improve overall soil health.

“I had this huge, eye-opening experience,” Hardin said. “That’s when I started actually using biochar on my crops, doing workshops, and teaching farmers how to make it.”

Biochar is created by heating biomass, such as forest waste or animal manure, in a low-oxygen environment—a process known as pyrolysis. Carbon stored in this form can be added to soil to improve moisture retention, nutrient availability, and aeration and create habitat for beneficial soil microbes, all of which can potentially boost soil productivity. Biochar can also last for thousands of years in soil, so it’s increasingly being viewed as an effective means of sequestering carbon.

Now, Hardin wants to use the knowledge he’s gained to tackle some big challenges across the state by using biochar to clean up the Illinois River watershed, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help farmers improve the quality of their soil through his innovative initiative called the Carbon Chicken Project.

Many birds with one stone

The Carbon Chicken Project, which aims to develop a market-based, carbon-negative farming ecosystem, has taken shape in Northwest Arkansas, an area with a strong poultry production industry. In fact, the state of Arkansas ranks third in the country for the number of broilers produced (1 billion in 2022). Hardin’s plan is specifically designed to address three things: The first is runoff from poultry litter from the region’s many chicken houses that deposits excess phosphorus into the Illinois River watershed. The second is an abundance of forest and sawmill waste, which releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere if left to decompose. Third, Hardin and other farmers are seeking new ways to increase their yields by improving soil health.

To contend with these issues, the project composts the poultry litter and combines it with biochar made from forest and sawmill waste and poultry litter. The result is a soil conditioner to help farmers build healthy soil and reduce the application of expensive fertilizers that can harm the Arkansas River watershed.

For many, this win-win-win solution would be enough. But for Hardin—an agricultural entrepreneur with an economics background—it’s a foundation for a larger vision.

“We’re trying to build this whole ecosystem around biochar that’s very extensive, but when you think about an ecosystem, it’s really a circular economy,” Hardin said. “We can sell the carbon credits, we can sell the biochar, and we can make electricity, and we can clean up a watershed, and we can sequester carbon and prevent climate change. It’s just cascading the benefits of what this product does.”

Accelerating biochar

Producers across the country are looking to Congress to realize biochar’s immense potential. With the most recent Farm Bill recently expired, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is asking Congress to invest in biochar research through the next Farm Bill, under the bipartisan Biochar Research Network Act. If passed, the bill will authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a national-scale research program to test different biochar types in different soils and circumstances. With better research will come innovation and practical tools for farmers, ranchers, foresters, and businesses to lean into biochar as a climate solution that improves their bottom line.

On the research front, a recent USDA study showed that biochar made from poultry litter adds value and could be an attractive solution for waste disposal for the industry.

Hardin knows the impact that investment in biochar research can make, referring to his own introduction to biochar—and subsequent learning, experimentation, and research—stemmed from a grant from Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG).

“The Carbon Chicken Project would have never ever happened if it wasn’t for this CIG grant,” Hardin said. “That innovation grant really worked because we’ve created this massive environmental solution for Northwest Arkansas’s watershed using a scaled-up idea that started with that little grant.”

Next steps

Right now, Hardin is working on securing project funding while creating an 11-acre carbon innovation and demonstration farm that can serve as a research facility for the Carbon Chicken Project—and to get other agricultural partners on board.

“I’ve been doing biochar research here on my farm for a good year, and I’ve got feedstock sources, I’m building pyrolysis units, I’ve got different application rate studies already going,” he said. “I’m trying to use this as a base to organize farmers so that they can see the amazing benefits and the yield increases, and all the things that we’re doing.”

,

North Metro TV Features AgriSolar Farm to Table Event

Thanks to NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse and its partners, people across the country are enjoying local food produced underneath solar panels. The most recent farm to table event, held in partnership with Big River Farms at Connexus Energy, took place September 26 in Ramsey, Minnesota.

“We’re doing this to help create community and show how delicious this food can be that’s grown underneath solar panels,” NCAT Energy Program Director Dr. Stacie Peterson told North Metro TV.

Co-locating food and fiber production with solar panels can increase land access for farmers and strengthen local food systems.

“I think you’re seeing this all across the country and once people hear about it, it just makes sense,” said Peterson. “They hear about the stacked benefits of agriculture and solar, and agrisolar, and they want to do it, too.”

To learn more about agrisolar, or agrivoltaics, visit NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse.

Montana Partnership Reduces Food Waste and Supports Sustainable Gardening and Food Production Through Biochar

If you live in Missoula, Montana, you’ve probably seen the blue e-bikes transporting food scraps around town. The nonprofit Soil Cycle began when Missoula resident and backyard gardener, Caitlyn Lewis, saw a nexus between reducing organic waste to divert valuable materials from landfills and improving her neighborhood gardens’ growing potential by making biochar.

“I think about food a lot because I love to eat and value the effort and beauty of the growing process. Wasted food is a big issue, and I think we should honor our food enough to return it to its natural cycle,” Lewis said.

Six years later, Soil Cycle has gone from Lewis picking up scraps from a few clients to six bikers transporting upwards of 60,000 pounds of compost per year. With a bigger staff and a new executive director, they also educate the community, create quality natural fertilizers, and take compost to a new level, all while remaining human-powered.

Turning a Concept into a Product

Soil Cycle's biochar blend is available in Missoula, Montana.A small local houseplant business contacted Soil Cycle because they wanted a soil amendment that could hold nutrients and water while having a fluffy texture for potted succulents. After doing some research, Lewis learned about biochar and found a partner in Bad Goat Forest Products. This Missoula-based company builds live edge furniture, timber frame, and log shelters using wood sourced from local forest restoration and urban tree removal projects.

Mark Vander Meer, the founder of Bad Goat Forest Products, has been practicing and stewarding long-term sustainable forest management in Montana. Soil Cycle team members use the discarded wood shavings from Bad Goat in their 900-degree kiln.

The result is a fine, charred mixture, called biochar, a type of charcoal produced for use in soil by heating biomass in limited oxygen.

Biochar is a very porous, high-carbon form of charcoal that, when mixed into soil, increases airflow, water retention, and nutrient-holding capacity. Its unique structure provides the perfect home for beneficial bacteria, which protects and defends plant roots. Using biochar in the soil allows for continual nutrient and mineral exchange to feed plants and, over time, supports a biologically active carbon storage system, which could help capture the excess carbon in our atmosphere.  Biochar provides the most durable form of soil carbon. When  produced at high temperatures, it lasts for hundreds to thousands of years in soil.

“We are excited to showcase the potential of biochar because when added to soil, it is one of nature’s many miracles,” said Lewis. “Storing carbon in our soil is also a powerful tool against climate change. It is cost-effective, highly efficient, and designed to work with nature. This unique structure provides the perfect home for beneficial bacteria, which protects and defends plant roots.”

Soil Cycle blends its particular biochar mix with worm castings, Montana volcanic minerals, Azomite, kelp meal, raw sugar, and sand. These materials support plants in homes and gardens to improve overall plant growth, yield, resilience, and nutrient-holding abilities while improving soil moisture retention.

“Our partnership with Bad Goat Lumber has shown us how a waste product – both from wood products and food scraps – can become a rich and valuable source of nutrients when placed under pressure – the diamonds of the soil. This partnership has allowed us to create a product that we couldn’t otherwise by using their facility and biochar-making setup,” said Lewis.

Their Biochar Blend is sold in several nurseries around Missoula and is most popular for house plants. Even though they work with biochar on a small scale, the Soil Cycle team sees potential for backyard gardeners and urban farmers so everyone can experience using it and see its potential application on a larger scale.

Accelerating Biochar

To replicate partnerships like Soil Cycle and Bad Goat Lumber’s and scale up biochar production for use in agriculture and forestry, the country needs a coordinated research program to inform farmers, ranchers, foresters, and gardeners on which types of biochar will work in their conditions. Congress is crafting the 2023 Farm Bill, which presents a big opportunity to ensure the promise of biochar is realized.

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is asking Congress to invest in biochar research through the Farm Bill, specifically under the Biochar Research Network Act. It will authorize the USDA to establish a national-scale research program to test different biochar types in different soils and circumstances. With better research will come innovation and practical tools for Montana farmers, ranchers, gardeners and foresters to improve soil health and productivity, as they help solve climate change by storing carbon in soil.

The continued evolution of biochar has entrepreneurs like Lewis thinking big.

“We know it will take time to educate our customers (and future customers) about the incredible benefits biochar can give their soil. Even though biochar has been used for centuries, it is still new to most people,” Lewis said.

Sustainability Project Transforms Cafeteria Waste into Usable Compost

Remember scraping off your tray in the lunchroom as a kid? Did you ever think about where that waste was going or if it could be more than just garbage? One nonprofit in Silver City, New Mexico is getting its hands dirty and helping kids and school districts reduce lunchroom waste into a valuable learning experience.

The New Earth Project is developing compost processes to create a symbiotic relationship and benefit the community. Carol Ann Fugagli, Education and Outreach Director for the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance and the New Earth Project, explained how they use everyday materials to teach students about climate change and sustainability.

“The looming climate and biodiversity crisis is a real existential threat, and we want to create community resilience,” Fugagli said. “We are focused on educating, inspiring, and empowering youth in our community through educational activities and employment opportunities.”

Carbon capture through composting

New Earth collects food surplus from three school cafeterias and combines it with woody biomass, agricultural byproducts, and biochar in Johnson-Su compost bioreactors. Every week, they fill these bioreactors with this waste and divert approximately 1200 pounds of food waste from the local landfill. The Johnson-Su composting method is a static, aerobic process that produces a diverse, fungal-dominant mix that interacts with plants to sequester carbon in soils, increase water infiltration and retention, fix nitrogen, and increase plant growth.

Students participating in the New Earth Project biochar effort in New Mexico.

Students participating in the New Earth Project biochar effort in New Mexico.

To increase the value and effectiveness of the compost, they add 10% biochar into the mix. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (wood chips, logging slash, manure, or other plant byproducts) in a low-oxygen environment. This process, called pyrolysis, turns into pure carbon, converting it into a solid form rather than letting it escape into the atmosphere.

While biochar isn’t a fertilizer, research indicates it can help retain nutrients in the soil due to its high porosity, allowing it to absorb nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. Think of a housing complex for billions of needed microbes. It can last in the environment anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years, making it an effective tool to sequester carbon.

After three months of experimenting with the amount and type of biomass and biochar, New Earth found just the right mix to yield the best result. Now that the project has perfected its compost “recipe,” they plan to experiment using other waste streams such as salt cedar, cardboard, and compostable plastics.

Accelerating Biochar

The New Mexico Legislature recently gave a vote of confidence to New Earth’s activities, approving a $100,000 general appropriation to the project in the 2023 spring legislative session.

“Young people are freaked out about the climate crisis. Our project is all about instilling the ethic of restoration and hope in young people. We hope to get a composting system into every school so students can have a project to plug into, giving them real power.”

To realize biochar’s potential, America needs a coordinated research program. Congress is crafting the 2023 Farm Bill, which presents a big opportunity to ensure the promise of biochar is realized.

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is asking Congress to invest in biochar research through the Farm Bill, specifically under the Biochar Research Network Act. It will authorize the USDA to establish a national-scale research program to test different biochar types in different soils and circumstances. With better research will come innovation and practical tools for farmers, ranchers, foresters, and businesses to lean into biochar as a climate solution.

Real-world applications

Biochar-enhanced compost can improve soil health by reducing acidity, upping water and nutrient storage, and providing better drainage and aeration. By increasing pH, biochar can invigorate soils by increasing microbial activity, nutrient availability, and reducing heavy metal toxicity.

Fugagli explained how costly fertilizer may be doing more harm than good. “We’ve killed all the microbiology in the way we grow food. Biochar in the ground makes it a little apartment complex for these microorganisms to give them their housing so they can live in this soil.”

New Earth Project staff grind cafeteria food waste for biochar.

New Earth Project staff grind cafeteria food waste for biochar.

“Many biochar producers are not finding a market to sell to because, for many, biochar is new,” Fugagli said. “We work with Trollworks here in the state and have bought them out more than once. Combining biochar with compost makes sense because we can keep carbon at the roots of our plants where it’s needed rather than in the atmosphere where it causes so much damage.”

The New Earth Compost sits for one year before it can be used. December 2023 is when the first batch will be ready. Marketing their product is their next step. Fugagli said she is contacting larger buyers like a local mine and the New Mexico Department of Transportation to gauge interest in soil remediation projects. They also know that revitalizing agricultural land is a big part of the equation.

“There is no solving our climate crisis without solving the agricultural emissions problem,” she said. “We are working to educate users because you don’t apply it as regular compost – which is what people are used to. You can, but a little goes a long way. Biochar-enhanced compost can help transform ag soils into living soils.”

 

The ‘Black Gold’ that Can Save Soils, Fight Forest Fires, and Power the Planet

If you have ever stared into the coals of a fire pit, you have witnessed the powerful chemical reaction between heat and organic matter. But what if the blackened remains of a bonfire could be used to grow better food, prevent catastrophic wildfires, and slow the acceleration of climate change?

It’s hard to believe such a low-tech innovation could have so many benefits, but that’s the power of a material called “biochar.”

The charcoal-like substance is made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (wood chips, logging slash, manure, or other plant byproducts) in a low-oxygen environment. This process, called pyrolysis, heats biomass with the absence of oxygen. It traps the carbon in the biochar itself, converting it into a solid form rather than letting it escape into the atmosphere.

Far from a new concept, biochar is as old as agriculture itself. Adding charred organic waste to fields has been done effectively by Indigenous people for millennia. Still, the idea that biochar could be perfected to maximize soil productivity and mitigate climate change has been around for less than 20 years.

While biochar isn’t a fertilizer, research indicates it supports healthy soil biology. It can help retain nutrients and water in the soil due to its charged surface, which allows it to absorb nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential elements. It can last in the environment anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years, making it an effective tool to sequester carbon.

From waste to energy

Gordon West, founder and CEO of Silver City-based Trollworks LLC, has worked for 35 years experimenting with alternative uses for wood waste and forest products. He grew from operating his own woodworking business to researching forest restoration, then pivoted to using wood chips in commercial products like concrete and erosion control systems. One day in 2012, a local inventor introduced him to biochar cooking stoves, and the wheels started turning.

“We were trying to turn that waste material into an asset, and so my approach changed from making biochar to making heat with biochar as a co-product,” he said.

West believes the biochar byproduct is cheaper than natural gas and roughly as clean when burned correctly. “The energy is actually free, carbon-negative energy created by restoring the environment,” he said. “It’s a clean renewable from a liability. I call it reverse coal mining. Plants remove carbon from the atmosphere. We convert the plant biomass to carbon and a flammable gas (smoke), burn the smoke for energy, and put the carbon in the soil to improve plant growth.”

Biochar producers find that forest and farm waste are excellent free carbon sources. Alternative materials like rice stalks, weeds, pecan shells, and cotton stalks have become popular in New Mexico. Only 1% of the cotton plant is used for cotton. The rest is waste.

The continued evolution of biochar has innovators like West thinking big. “We can replace huge amounts of fossil fuels,” he said. “Because of pyrolysis, you’re still getting a flammable gas to drop into traditional kinds of heaters or even to fuel electrical generators.”

West is currently focused on soil regeneration, thermal fuels, and coupling biochar pyrolysis units to existing boilers and HVAC systems to meet consumer heating needs. He said the greatest interest he’s seen in biochar has been as an energy source–he recently won a grant to heat a classroom building at Northern New Mexico College while making biochar.

He’s optimistic about transforming biomass waste into “bioenergy” while sequestering carbon and creating jobs in rural communities. “Biochar is a new thing, so it’s like trying to grow a market from scratch,” he said. “We hope to grow both things incrementally.”

Accelerating Biochar

To realize biochar’s potential, America needs a coordinated research program. Congress is crafting the 2023 Farm Bill, which presents a big opportunity to ensure the promise of biochar is realized.

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is asking Congress to invest in biochar research through the Farm Bill, specifically under the Biochar Research Network Act. It will authorize the USDA to establish a national-scale research program to test different biochar types in different soils and circumstances. With better research will come innovation and practical tools for farmers, ranchers, foresters, and businesses to lean into biochar as a climate solution.

The continued evolution of biochar has innovators like West thinking big. “For many people, biochar is new, so it’s like trying to grow a market from scratch. But I believe we can replace huge amounts of fossil fuels and transform waste into “bioenergy” while sequestering carbon and creating jobs in rural communities.”

Real-world applications

Biochar improves soil health by reducing acidity, upping water and nutrient storage, and providing better drainage and aeration. Biochar can invigorate soils by increasing microbial activity, nutrient availability, and reducing heavy metal toxicity. When using biochar, some farmers have been able to reduce their phosphorus use by 100% and nitrogen by 85% after a few years.

According to West, farmers use biochar and compost as an extract, brew it in water like a teabag, and spray it on fields as a liquid input. It can also be used as a clay-like seed coating to give seeds a microbial head-start in their growth.

As for alternative uses, biochar can be incorporated as aggregate into concrete, used as a component in asphalt road construction, or as a replacement for activated charcoal to filter and absorb contaminants. Forest Service scientists are researching how applying it to soils at abandoned mines can improve water quality, bind heavy metals, and decrease toxic chemical concentrations while improving soil health to establish sustainable plant cover.

West says the ultimate goal of his work is “giving people things they can do every day” to fight the effects of climate change. “Everybody feels pretty hopeless about these large problems. These ideas have been around forever, and there’s nothing complicated about the technology. It’s just thinking about things differently.”

CBS ‘Saturday Morning’ Features AgriSolar

CBS Saturday Morning featured NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse and one of the farmers who is partnering with an energy company to graze his sheep among their solar panels during a six-minute piece that aired nationwide.

Pairing farming with solar energy production offers many “stacked benefits,” according to CBS.

“This is going to be a game changer,” NCAT Energy Program Director Dr. Stacie Peterson told CBS. “This is taking off all across the country. We’re here to help you figure out what’s best for your area and connect you with the right people to help you do this if you want this on your farm or in your community.”

“We’re producing food, fiber, and energy all from the same acre of land,” said Solar Shepherd Founder Dan Finnegan. “It’s a smarter way to use this land.”

To learn more about agrisolar, or agrivoltaics, visit NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse.

How You Can Support Biochar Research

Biochar is one of the most promising tools to build soil organic matter, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and improve soil health. That promise has prompted growing support for federal legislation to increase biochar research. 

Biochar is a form of charcoal designed for use in soil. It is produced by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen – a process called pyrolysis. Potential sources of biomass feedstock include: 

  • dead wood, thinnings, and slash removed from forests to reduce wildfire risk  
  • grass and tree crops
  • the portion of crop residues not needed to prevent soil erosion 

Biochar is not new. Biochar from prairie and forest fires is a significant portion of the organic matter in the world’s agricultural soils. A growing body of research suggests that appropriately designed biochar can improve soil structure and health, enhance soil water-holding capacity, improve soil fertility, and increase yields while building soil carbon and organic matter.  

Building and maintaining soil organic matter is challenging in annual cropping systems. Most crop residue left on soil breaks down in a few years. Even practices that add carbon like cover crops can stimulate microorganisms that decompose biomass, limiting the net gain in soil organic matter.  

The unique promise of biochar is that it provides “recalcitrant” soil carbon that lasts for hundreds to thousands of years. That is why harvesting a portion of crop residue to produce biochar to be returned to soil can result in a net increase in soil carbon. Biochar far outlasts crop residue.     

Interestingly, biochar can also extend the life of carbon from crop residue, cover crops, and other biomass that remains on the land. An Iowa State University found that the long-term increase in soil carbon several years after application of biochar was twice the carbon embodied in the biochar. Biochar slowed the decomposition of other soil carbon. 

Biochar provides farmers, ranchers, and foresters the opportunity to become a powerful part of the solution to climate change. Soil is the globe’s second-largest carbon sink, holding three times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Agricultural soils alone hold about as much carbon as the atmosphere.   

Thus, a 10% increase in carbon in agricultural soils across the globe would provide a 10% reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas most responsible for driving climate change. In addition, research has found that biochar can reduce soil emissions of nitrous oxide, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. That also keeps nitrogen in the soil and available to crops. 

Biochar has great potential. But to achieve it, critical knowledge gaps must be filled. The research results on biochar have been inconsistent because there are many different types of biochar being applied in varying soils and circumstances. So, we need coordinated research to determine which types of biochar can be beneficial in varying soils and circumstances.   

Bipartisan legislation has been proposed to meet that need. The Biochar Research Network Act of 2023 has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as HR 1645 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Sean Casten (D-IL), and Josh Harder (D-CA). It was introduced in the U.S. Senate as S.732 by Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Thune (R-SD), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). 

The Act would establish a national network of up to 20 research sites to test the full range of biochar types across soils, regions, and application methods to assess its potential to enhance carbon sequestration, crop production, resource conservation, and agricultural resilience. It would support research to develop promising approaches to integrating biochar in farming and ranching systems, as well as forestry. 

Support for the Act is growing. A long list of organizations, businesses, and individuals have written to the Agriculture Committees of Congress urging that the legislation be incorporated in the upcoming farm bill. NCAT’s Biochar Policy Project has been a leading force in developing and championing the bill. Click here to read the support letter.

Biochar is a win-win solution. It helps farmers, ranchers and foresters build healthy and productive soil and creates new opportunities to earn payments for removing carbon from the atmosphere. It provides a market for combustible materials removed from forests, supporting efforts to reduce wildfires. It offers the basis for building a new industry that creates jobs and opportunities across rural America along with new markets for biomass. And it removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which lessens climate change. 

There are many reasons to support biochar, which is why it has drawn bipartisan support at a time when the two major parties seem to rarely come together. 

To learn more about the Biochar Research Network Act and how you can lend your voice to the campaign for its passage, contact Chuck Hassebrook at hassebrook@gmail.com. 

Armed to Urban Farm Featured on Scripps National News

A story about the Armed to Urban Farm program’s recent training has been featured on more than 40 television news stations around the country. The free training included two virtual sessions and three days of in-person sessions in Memphis, TN.

Armed to Urban Farm, presented in partnership with the U.S. Botanic Garden, is an outgrowth of NCAT’s Armed to Farm program. Since 2013, more than 900 farmer veterans have received sustainable agriculture training through Armed to Farm.

Armed to Urban Farm is unique in its focus on operating a farming business in the city. Attendees at the Memphis training learned about business planning, marketing, land access, and legal issues farmers can face. In addition, they spent time on urban farms in Memphis, learning from experienced urban farmers and building relationships with fellow farmer veterans.

“They’re here to learn and connect with each other and see what they might be able to take back to their own operations,” said U.S. Botanic Garden education specialist Emily Hestness.

Veterans who attend Armed to Urban Farm come to learn about vegetable, fruit, and flower production, with goals of feeding their families and communities. Many, such as Army veteran Charley Jordan, also have discovered therapeutic benefits from engaging in agriculture.

“It was helpful for me and I figured this must be helpful for other veterans…So, I’m slowly moving on to working more with veterans and mental health and using plants as healing.”

Whatever the farmer veterans’ goals may be, Armed to Urban Farm offers support and educational resources even after the training event ends. Farming is a challenging profession, as NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis points out, but farmer veterans are used to challenges from their time in military service.

“and we think that if you’ve already started the hardest job in the world, why can’t we transition you into the second?”

NCAT and the U.S. Botanic Garden have hosted Armed to Urban Farm training events in Washington, D.C., Cleveland, OH, and Baltimore, MD. For more information, visit ARMEDTOFARM.ORG.

Watch the full piece, here.