Biochar can increase soil fertility, capture carbon, fix nitrogen, control odours, and be used as a feed additive
It’s the multi-tasking soil amendment, and Alberta farmers are going to hear a lot more about biochar thanks to the Alberta Biochar Initiative.
This special type of charcoal — which can be made from a host of materials, including wheat and flax stalks and even cattle manure — can increase soil fertility, fix nitrogen, and sequester carbon. It can also be used as a greenhouse growing medium, to reclaim oilfield and mine sites, protect rivers from logging operations, and for odour control. It also has a potential as a feed additive for livestock, a substitute for peat, and as an additive to compost.
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Figuring out the best and most cost-effective use of the substance is one of the goals of the Alberta Biochar Initiative, which recently unveiled two pyrolysis units at the Alberta Innovates — Technology Futures (AITF) site in Vegreville. The devices convert agricultural wastes into biochar at very high temperatures in a very low-oxygen environment, and the agency will work with Lakeland College to study potential uses for the substance, including a feedstock, greenhouse growth media, and soil amendment.
“What we are trying to do as part of this initiative is to get all the people who are interested in this and doing work on it, to hopefully get focused on what do we know now and what do we need to continue to develop,” said Mel Mathison, the college’s dean of environmental sciences and applied research.
It’s hoped that co-ordinating research will speed the development of a commercial biochar industry — possibly in as little as four years, he said.
“I think there is a lot of potential for this product in the horticultural industry, the greenhouse industry and in areas where there are high-value crops to enhance the soil growth medium that they are currently using,” said Mathison.
The two units, purchased with a $900,000 federal grant, convert feedstocks to biochar at temperatures in the 500 C to 700 C range, and are capable of producing two tonnes of the material daily. Depending on the feedstock — which includes crop waste, sawmill waste and pulp-and-paper sludge — it takes four to seven tonnes of material to make a tonne of biochar.
“We’re trying to find areas where the companies could really benefit by adding that value,” said Mathison.
Feedlot manure may also work as a feedstock.
“We think we can use it as a feedstock, but we haven’t tested it in these machines yet,” said Mathison. “The moisture content and just getting it to feed through would be two of the things that would have to be worked around.”
The use of biochar as a soil conditioner dates back to the indigenous peoples living in the Amazon Basin who added wood charcoal to soil to make it more fertile. The Japanese have also used it for centuries as a soil conditioner.
“Using charcoal as a soil amendment is not something new in certain parts of the world,” said Julie Major, an agronomist at McGill University, and an expert in the historical use of biochar. However, she said it is not commonly used in Canada because this country’s soils are already quite fertile.
