Biochar and "Green Charcoal" Gaining Momentum in LAC
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| Green charcoal created by CRI and Makouti |
The U.N. has designated
2015 as the Year of Soil, and over the 24 years that Partners has been running
the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program, our volunteers have often worked with farmers throughout the
tropics on these critical topics: soil conservation and fertility management.
Soil conservation and fertility management are important everywhere, but they are absolutely critical in tropical countries with heavily weathered soils like
Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala. While a number of
recommended best management practices (reduced tillage, mulching, etc.) have
proven to be effective in many situations, one seemingly ancient but relevant
practice is beginning to gain momentum in the sustainable agriculture arena:
biochar.
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| A terra preta do indio site in the Brazilian Amazon |
Biochar – biomass that
has been charred in a low oxygen environment for agricultural use – was first
“discovered” by scientists that were investigating unusually fertile plots of
soil in the Brazilian Amazon, called terra preta do indio. The
fertile soil, which was carbon-dated between 450 BCE and 600 CE, is rich in
charcoal and is thought to have been created by indigenous groups inhabiting
the region.
Although it remains
a mystery exactly how to recreate terra preta do indio, it is clear
that charcoal is a key ingredient. Research indicates that biochar has a number
of benefits such as increasing soil nutrient holding capacity, water holding
capacity, and ability to buffer pH. Furthermore, as charcoal is resistant to
decomposition, making biochar is considered a carbon negative process and
farmers can reap the agricultural benefits of one biochar application for
hundreds, or even thousands of years.
Partners has been working with charcoal initiatives in Haiti since 2012. For Haiti, green charcoal production means not only reduced deforestation by creating charcoal for cooking, but also improved soils
and greater plant yields with the biochar byproduct. Carbon
Roots International (CRI) is
championing this technology in Haiti. CRI encourages and enables the
adoption of sustainable charcoal technologies in Haiti and the broader
developing world.
CRI assists farmers to produce biochar from agricultural waste, such as
sugarcane bagasse, bean stalks, or corn stover by converting it through the
process of pyrolysis, or heating organic biomass in an oxygen-starved
environment. With little oxygen, the waste can’t burn; instead, it chars. This enables biochar production at
locations where biomass is otherwise burned in a heap or left to
decompose. With the help of Makouti Agro Enterprise, CRI has refined
the process and introduced the technology to an ever-increasing number of
communities in Makouti's and Farmer-to-Farmer's network.
http://www.carbonrootsinternational.org/.
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