Biomass to biochar
The business model
In Ireland, biomass which is not utilised for livestock feeding occupies a large area of agricultural land. This biomass consists primarily of rushes (Juncus spp.), but also bracken (Pteridium), Furze (Ulex spp.), Hazel (Corylus) and heather (Calluna).
Every year, considerable expenditure is required to take care of these resources (i.e. cutting and disposal), either by chemical or mechanical means as to ensure compliance with EU grant schemes and for conservation purposes for the regional agri-environment scheme. This leads to the widespread use of chemical herbicides and the production of a considerable amount of biomass stream. The Biomass to Biochar project (BBFB) promotes a process to create value-added products in the form of biochar from unutilised agricultural biomass and make direct use of this product in the farm itself. In the BBFB process, farmers are both producers and end users, getting a direct benefit from this practice.
By producing biochar from this source of biomass, farmers gain three crucial benefits:
No use of chemicals to manage the unwanted biomass, so no unwanted costs in the farm
Farmers get paid for each round bale of rushes produced
The biochar has multiple uses in the farm in improving the soil properties such as increasing soil water holding capacity and improving soil microbiome.
The Irish Biochar Co-Operative has successfully been awarded EIP funding to produce biochar from rushes and other materials of little agricultural use.
The main actors involved in this initiative are: Biochar co-operative (mostly farmers), farmers involved in field trails, University College Dublin (UCD) and the Agriculture department for research and technology support.
The process
Biochar is a charcoal-like product produced from biomass under slow pyrolysis process which is heating biomass in low oxygen conditions to 400 – 800 C°. At this temperature much of the volatile contents are removed leaving a stable, carbon-rich biochar with an open porous structure.
The Biomass to Biochar project promotes a process to create value-added products in the form of biochar from unutilised agricultural biomass. Biochar can be used for soil improvers and as an addition for animal feeds. The project will build a Mobile Pyrolysis Unit (MPU) to turn the unwanted biomass farm into biochar in the farm itself. The biomass is baled and stored for biochar production. The bales will be pre chopped and then loaded into a hopper to pass through the pyrolysis unit. The final product will then be stored in bulk bags to be used by the land owners at a later date. The biochar will be tested for its properties and any potential toxicity. Once shown to be safe, it will be used on farm as feed input, slurry additive or soil amender to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil fertility and long-term carbon storage. Also biobased industries can purchase biochar and convert it into activated carbon, which has high value applications.
The activated carbon demand in Ireland is estimated at 1,275 ton per annum and, with a price range of €2,000 to €3,500/ton (dependent on material type), a market value ranging from €2.8 million to €3.7 million is identified. A market size of 8,000 tons in Europe is also estimated and, with a global average biochar price of €1,750/ton, suggests a European biochar market value of €14 million.
Successful factors
The biomass to biochar practice proposes immense benefit from using biochar in farm operations. Because of biochar’s ability to enhance the availability of plant nutrients, soil nutrient retention is improved. This means that less fertilizer needs to be applied, contributing to reduce the cost in crop production. Moreover, char-amended soils have shown reduced runoff of phosphorus into surface waters and leaching of nitrogen into groundwater.
So, pollution caused by fertilizer run-off into streams and rivers is reduced. Biochar has been shown to reduce the soil emissions of nitrous oxide (as a greenhouse gas, it is 310 times stronger than carbon dioxide) and improve the uptake of methane (21 times more potent than carbon dioxide). The markets and consumers using the crop produced from biochar practices for food or feed purposes can be sure that the product is produced sustainably in a circular economy approach and no harm is caused to the environment during the production process. This sparks consumer attention and trust because of the quality of the product and from the sustainability tag attached to it. Indeed, it is possible to identify a number of factors that are essential to a successful development of such a practice.
Specific actions should aim to:
Educate farmers on the benefit of biochar and demonstrate the reduced costs and increased productivity with the use of biochar
Give premium prices to the products produced by using biochar as soil amender instead of artificial products
Make cooperatives for biochar production and train them on the technology and usage of the product.
Create an online platform for trading the biomass and the finished product.
Make farmers the leading stakeholders and managers of the process.
