|
IBI
Biochar Standards and
Testing Guidelines Completed
and Approved
On May 6, 2012 the membership
of the International Biochar
Initiative approved the first
international Biochar
Standards and Testing
Guidelines after a
two-week open ballot. These are
the result of a multi-year
development process that was
global, transparent, and
inclusive, and that involved the
input and participation of
hundreds of research scientists,
entrepreneurs, farmers, and
other stakeholders in the
drafting, review, and approval
of the document. The
Standardized Product
Definition and Product Testing
Guidelines for Biochar That Is
Used in Soil may be
freely distributed and used for
non-commercial purposes under a
Creative Commons copyright
license that is included in the
document for reference. Please
see the Biochar Standards
page on the IBI site for
more information.
Biochar
Standards Documents for
Download:
(Please note that in this final
version, the title of the
document has changed from: Guidelines
for Specifications of Biochars
for Use in Soil to Standardized
Product Definition and Product
Testing Guidelines for Biochar
That Is Used in Soil. The
shorthand reference to the
document has also changed from Biochar
Guidelines to Biochar
Standards and Testing
Guidelines or just Biochar
Standards.)
Publication of the Final
Biochar Standards and Testing
Guidelines is not the
conclusion of the process, but
rather the beginning of a new
phase where the Biochar
Standards and Testing
Guidelines will be tested
in practical applications. IBI
expects over time that the
document will evolve in an
iterative fashion as science and
further developments in the
biochar field warrant updates
and revisions. IBI welcomes your
comments and suggestions at any
time for improvements to the Biochar
Standards. You may send
those by email to: BiocharGu...@gmail.com.
Note if you downloaded a copy
of the final Biochar
Standards before May 15,
2012, please download again. A
recent technical amendment was
made to Appendix 2 to correct
the instructions on how to
prepare samples for measuring pH
(they are to be diluted using a
w:v process, not a w:w or v:v
process, as previously stated.
Full explanation of this issue
is found in the appendix.) IBI
will keep a log of any technical
amendments made before the next
revision on a Biochar Standards
Archive page.
IBI would like to sincerely
thank the global biochar
community for their
participation and support
throughout this entire
process. We would especially
like to thank our funders, our
members, our Board of Directors,
Leading Carbon, Ltd, Brooks
Pierce, LLP and the working
group participants and
collaborators who dedicated
themselves to the process and
the development of this
document.
IBI
Biochar Certification
Program
Additionally, progress on IBI’s
Biochar Certification Program
continues, and we anticipate
that we will be ready to make
announcements on the program,
including timing and roll-out
activities in the very near
future. The Certification
Program will be based on the Biochar
Standards and Guidelines,
and we are grateful for the high
level of interest that the
biochar community and our
members have shown in this
program already. We are very
eager to begin sharing details
of the program with you. Be
looking for details in future
IBI announcements.
|
|
New IBI Organization Member:
 The
Center of Biochar and
Green Agriculture, Nanjing
Agricultural University
The
Center of Biochar and Green
Agriculture was launched in
September 21-23, 2011 during
the International Workshop
on Biochar and New Green
Agriculture of China. This
center is a multi-discipline
research and technology
development unit with
special focus on issues with
biochar production from crop
straw and applications in
agriculture. Being
coordinated by Dr Genxing
Pan, a senior scientist of
soil science and climate
change research of China,
the center is based in the
Institute of Resource,
Ecosystem and Environment of
Agriculture and the
Provincial Key lab of
Greenhouse gas mitigation
and low carbon agriculture
of Jiangsu within the
Nanjing Agricultural
University system.
For
more information, please
see:
http://www.biochar-international.org/Conference/China_Green_Agriculture_2011
or
contact Genxing
Pan or Xinyan
Yu.
|
|
Biochar Greenhouse Gas
Protocol Development
The
International Biochar
Initiative is pleased to
announce that it will be
collaborating with its
partners The Climate Trust and
The Prasino Group to develop a
biochar greenhouse gas offset
protocol for voluntary carbon
markets. The protocol work
will build on the existing
work of the Biochar
Protocol Initiative to
finalize a market-ready
biochar protocol which will
qualify and quantify biochar
projects to receive greenhouse
gas offset credits. The
protocol development process
will be transparent, and will
continue to engage the global
biochar community. It will
also incorporate key elements
of IBI’s
recently-completed Biochar
Standards. The
collaborators will announce
two parallel efforts in the
coming weeks: (1) a draft
protocol will be posted for
public comment for a 4-week
period, during which time IBI
will host two public webinars
to review the protocol and to
answer questions about the
draft and the overall protocol
development effort; and (2)
IBI will convene a group of
experts to assist in the
identification of a test
methodology to measure the
long term stable carbon
contained in biochar. This
carbon stability methodology
is a critical component of the
biochar protocol. Additional
information about these
efforts, including nominations
to participate in the stable
carbon methodology assessment,
will be announced in the
coming weeks.
|
|
Send us
your story
Are
you working in biochar and
have a story to tell? Our
staff is always on the
lookout for good profiles
and if you would like to
work with us on a profile
story highlighting your
work, please contact Thayer
Tomlinson. We publish
1 – 2 profiles a month in
our newsletter, on our home
page, and at: http://www.biochar-international.org/projects/practitioner/profiles.
|
|
Hands-on Biochar Workshop
Held in Byron Bay, NSW,
Australia, April 2012
 The
second annual Biochar Boot Camp
was held April 20 – 22, 2012, at
Star Seed Gardens
Nursery in Byron Bay.
There were 24 registrants with
Paul Taylor, Stephen Joseph, and
Dan Schreiber (Star Seed Gardens
host) facilitating. The workshop
focused on how to make, test,
and apply special biochar
mixtures to work in Australian
soils.
Friday evening presentations
included a slide show featuring
information from The Biochar
Revolution, by Paul Taylor.
Saturday was devoted to hands-on
workshops. Participants broke
into two groups, one to explore
assembling and firing some new
biochar oven designs, the other
to assemble mixtures of straw,
clay, manure, and minerals in
bamboo to be fired in those new
ovens. With sparks flying,
recycled drums, mesh, metal
plates, and tubes were cut up
and welded into new biochar
machines. The day ended with a
Bamboo Feast, including fish
curry cooked in bamboo on TLUD
heaters, and marinated chicken
wings on TLUD BBQ. On Sunday
morning the metal workers and
welders remained focused on
assembling the new oven, while
others experimented with TLUD
driven retorts. See the IBI Open Source
Technology page for
pictures and a description of
the new biochar oven design. You can also view
a seven-minute video report on
the workshop.
Participants left the workshop
with a greater understanding of
how to make a simple biochar
reactor, produce a range of
different biochars at different
temperatures, carry out basic
tests, make
biochar/compost/mineral blends,
understand the properties of
different biochars, and
effectively apply biochar in
different ways in vermi-ponics,
hydroponics, and aqua-ponics.
For additional information
contact Paul
Taylor.
|
|
Biochar
Briefs: News
Roundup for May
We update the website daily
with new articles on biochar.
For more information, please
see: http://www.biochar-international.org/newsbriefs.
Australia
Five new research
projects will share $2 million
of Federal Government funding to
investigate the impacts of
biochar in reducing farm-scale
carbon emissions.
Austria
The European
Geosciences Union (EGU)
General Assembly 2012,
held April 22 – 27 in Vienna,
addressed the release of carbon
from soil into the atmosphere
and ways to enhance soils'
ability to sequester carbon,
including the use of biochar.
Germany
German cemeteries
could generate energy by
using their abundant open space
to grow biofuel crops. Adding
biochar to the soils will help.
Ghana
Five start-up
entrepreneurs from Ghana have
received the prestigious SEED
Award, founded by the
United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), the United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the International
Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN). The "Rural
Transportation and Renewable
Products Conversion Centres for
Agro-residues" initiative will
provide cargo bikes for the
collection of crops as well as
agro-residues which are
converted to biochar, charcoal,
and biofuels in a facility also
set up by the initiative.
Indonesia
Scientists
working in Indonesian Borneo
have found the first evidence
of terra preta in Asia,
with many similar features to
the anthropogenic dark earths
found in the Amazon.
United
Kingdom
Young Irish
entrepreneur Elaine Doyle has
made it to the semi-final
round of Ben & Jerry’s
Join Our Core initiative with
her biochar business. Five
finalists will win a €10,000
cash prize, business mentoring,
and the chance to see their name
on tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice
cream in 2013.
Heriot-Watt
University in Edinburgh has
been awarded £105,056 from
the Leverhume Trust to
investigate the carbon capture
potential of biochar.
United
Nations
Biochar is one
technology that can help
nations in Asia cope with
climate change, according
to a new report from the United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP).
United
States
The Agricultural
Biomass Center in California
is helping small farmers
learn how to produce energy and
biochar from agricultural waste.
Building projects at the right
scale is key to economic
viability.
Scientists, river
advocates, and homesteaders in
the Redwood forest region of
California met to solve
watershed problems. Biochar made
from young trees thinned from
overstocked forests could help
stabilize and restore soils.
Washington-based
Whitfield Biochar LLC is
developing a biomass thermal
technology that can use
multiple feedstocks to produce
syngas, as well as biochar. It
is designed to be scalable and
meet local thermal demand.
“Focus on the
soil, nurture its
biodiversity, spike it with
biochar and stop it from
washing away (partially by
stopping the wholesale slaughter
of microbial life with
pesticides).” So concludes
Scientific American writer David
Biello after attending a
conference on the future of
food.
An Iowa-based
turkey farmer has partnered
with the U.S. DOE and the
University of North Dakota’s
Energy & Environmental
Research Center (EERC) to test
and further develop a fixed bed,
downdraft gasifier to produce
energy and biochar from poultry
litter.
Biochar is
featured at "Dirt-O-Rama:
Intriguing Tales from the
Underground", a summer
exhibition at the Minnesota
Landscape Arboretum, running
June 2 – October 14.
Cool Planet
Biofuels has persuaded Google,
General Electric, BP,
ConocoPhillips, NRG Energy,
Exelon, and venture capital
firms Shea Ventures and North
Bridge Venture Partners to
invest millions of dollars in
the company to produce liquid
fuel while sequestering carbon
in soils as biochar.
|
|
Opportunities
in Biochar
Opportunities in Biochar
showcases announcements for the
public to apply for funding,
jobs, publications, conferences,
etc. These announcements are
also posted on the IBI website
in two places: Biochar Updates
and the Member Bulletin Board.
- Submit an Expression of
Interest: Organizers for the
upcoming International
Training Course on Biochar
Production, Testing and
Utilisation (Nanjing, China)
Sept 10 - 15, 2012 are looking
for expressions of interest
from potential participants.
20 spots have been taken and
there are only 5 left. For
more information on this
opportunity as well as a
current draft agenda, please
see:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3239.
- Receive a free biochar
consultancy/research for your
company. If you have a company
address in Wales, Bangor
University is offering free
biochar consultancy and
research under the European
Union SEREN program. For more
information, please see:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3233.
- Submit an abstract for the
Biomass Waste Management as a
Source of Renewable Energy,
Agriculture Sustainable, and
Global Warming Mitigation
conference; location East
Java, Indonesia; due
May 1, 2012. For
more information, please see:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3156.
- Submit an abstract for the
30th International Activated
Carbon Conference, Pittsburgh,
PA USA October 4 – 5, 2012.
For more information, please
see: www.pacslabs.com/conferences/iacc.
New job opportunities and PhD
postings are updated at: http://www.biochar-international.org/network/jobs
|
|
Subscribe to the Northwest
Biocarbon Initiative (NBI)
e-digest
The
Northwest Biocarbon Initiative
(NBI) is galvanizing the
region’s top biocarbon
innovators – farmers,
foresters, community leaders,
and thinkers – to demonstrate
the essential role that
natural systems can play in
reducing carbon dioxide levels
in the atmosphere to ensure
long-term climate stability.
NBI’s e-digest helps highlight
what Northwest biocarbon
innovators are doing to
advance cutting-edge practices
in order to increase carbon
storage in forests, farms, and
communities.
The
best biocarbon solutions offer
multiple-benefits – they work
from a number of different
angles – saving money,
enhancing habitat, improving
water quality, and controlling
stormwater, for example.
Biochar solutions are
multi-benefit, too –
generating sustainable energy,
enhancing soil fertility,
improving water retention, and
storing carbon for the
long-term.
NBI
therefore supports the use
of biochar and IBI’s mission
to develop sustainable
biochar production, and will
feature future biochar blogs
and updates in the e-digest.
Sign up for
the Northwest Biocarbon
Initiative e-digest here
or drop a line to Jeannette
Allan.
|
|
Upcoming
Calendar Events
- May 24 – 25, 2012: Biochar:
The soil is the limit!;
location Wageningen, the
Netherlands; more information:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3274
- June 18 - 22, 2012: 20th
European Biomass Conference
and Exhibition; location
Milan, Italy; more
information:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/2952.
- June 26 – 27, 2012: Biomass
Waste Management as a Source
of Renewable Energy,
Agriculture Sustainable, and
Global Warming Mitigation;
location East Java, Indonesia;
more information:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3156.
- July 2 – 6: Biochar
Symposium at the EuroSoil 2012
Conference; location Bari,
Italy; more information: http://www.biochar-international.org/node/2622.
- July 3 – 5: International
Symposium on Reclamation,
Restoration &
Rehabilitation Towards a
Greener Asia; location Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia; more
information:
http://www.biochar-international.org/node/3091.
- July 29 – August 1: United
States Biochar Conference;
location Sonoma, CA, United
States; more information and
registration: http://2012.biochar.us.com.
See the IBI Calendar page
for more events. To add an event
to the calendar, send the
information to in...@biochar-international.org.
|
|
Regional Biochar Group
Updates
To read more on the 43 regional
and national biochar groups,
please see IBI's website. This
month includes an update from
the Illinois Biochar Group
(United States).
Illinois
Biochar Group (United
States)
The summer meeting of the
Illinois Biochar Group will be
held on Thurs., June 14 from 1
pm – 3:30 pm at the Illinois
Sustainable Technology Center on
the campus of the University of
Illinois (UI) at
Urbana-Champaign. There will be
presentations on current biochar
research projects and other
biochar/stove activities by
members, including Paul Wever of
Chip Energy discussing the new
grant to start construction of
the Biomass Conversion Facility
in Goodfield, Illinois; Paul
Anderson talking about work with
stoves in Haiti and also
Uganda/Kenya; and several UI
researchers presenting their
research. Any person doing work
on biochar in the Midwest who
would wish to talk about their
project can contact
Nancy Holm, IBG
coordinator, before May 31.
There will also be discussion
about the new IBI Standards. A
list of presenters and the
agenda will be posted on the IBG
website by June 1. There
will be tours of ISTC laboratory
facilities at 12:30 pm and 3:30
pm that day as well.
|
Recently
Published Biochar Research
IBI tracks all published
research on biochar and includes
it in our online
bibliography. The
following articles were added in
the last month. Please visit the
website bibliography for more
information on any of these
articles. Due to copyright, we
cannot provide full copies of
articles unless we have
permission from the publisher.
If you have published work that
is not included, please email us.
-
Borchard, N., A. Wolf, V.
Laabs, R. Aeckersberg, H. W.
Scherer, A. Moeller, W.
Amelung (2012). Physical
activation of biochar and
its meaning for soil
fertility and nutrient
leaching – a greenhouse
experiment. Soil Use and
Management.
-
Case, Sean D. C., Whitaker
Jeanette, McNamara Niall P.,
and Reay David S. (2012).
The effect of biochar
addition on N2O and CO2
emissions from a sandy loam
soil – The role of soil
aeration. Soil Biology and
Biochemistry.
-
Cheng, Yi, Cai Zu-cong,
Chang Scott X., Wang Jing,
and Zhang Jin-bo (2012).
Wheat straw and its biochar
have contrasting effects on
inorganic N retention and
N2O production in a
cultivated Black Chernozem.
Biology and Fertility of
Soils.
-
Chih Chun Kung (2012).
Biochar Utilization in
Poyang Lake Eco-Economic
Zone: Chances and
Difficulties. Journal
Advanced Materials Research
(Volumes 512 - 515) Volume
Renewable and Sustainable
Energy II. Pages 347-350.
-
Cole, Daniel Paul, Erica A
Smith, and Young Jin Lee
(2012). High-Resolution Mass
Spectrometric
Characterization of
Molecules on Biochar from
Pyrolysis and Gasification
of Switchgrass. Energy
Fuels.
-
Da Quan Sun, Meng Jun, Wei
Ming Zhang, Xue Chao Guan,
Yu Wei Huang, Yu Lan, Ji
Ping Gao, Wen Fu Chen
(2012). Implication of
Temporal Dynamics of
Microbial Abundance and
Nutrients to Soil Fertility
under Biochar Application –
Field Experiments Conducted
in a Brown Soil Cultivated
with Soybean, North China.
Journal Advanced Materials
Research (Volumes 518 -
523). Pages 384-394.
-
Da Wei Yin, Jun Meng, Gui
Ping Zheng, Xue Mei Zhong,
Lan Yu, Ji Ping Gao, Wen Fu
Chen (2012). Effects of
Biochar on Acid Black Soil
Nutrient, Soybean Root and
Yield. Journal Advanced
Materials Research (Volumes
524 - 527) Volume Natural
Resources and Sustainable
Development II. Pages
2278-2289.
-
EPRI (2012). “Blue Sky”
Approaches to Greenhouse Gas
Mitigation: An Initial
Assessment of Potential New
Types of Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Offsets. Palo
Alto, CA. 1023662. http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?Abstract_id=000000000001023662.
-
Gerlach H, Schmidt HP
(2012). Biochar in poultry
farming. Ithaka Journal 1/
2012: 262–264.
Delinat-Institute for
Ecology and Climatefarming,
CH-1974 Arbaz. ISSN
1663-0521. http://www.ithaka-journal.net/druckversionen/e032012-bc-poultry.pdf.
-
Jie Liu, Hardy Schulz,
Susanne Brandl, Herbert
Miehtke, Bernd Huwe, Bruno
Glaser (2012). Short-term
effect of biochar and
compost on soil fertility
and water status of a
Dystric Cambisol in NE
Germany under field
conditions. Journal of Plant
Nutrition and Soil Science.
-
Kwang Ho Kim, Jae-Young
Kim, Tae-Su Cho, Joon Weon
Choi (2012). Influence of
pyrolysis temperature on
physicochemical properties
of biochar obtained from the
fast pyrolysis of pitch pine
(Pinus rigida). Bioresource
Technology
-
Leach, Melissa, Fairhead
James, and Fraser James
(2012). Green grabs and
biochar: Revaluing African
soils and farming in the new
carbon economy. Journal of
Peasant Studies. Volume 39,
Number 2, p.285-307.
-
Mahtab Ahmad, Sang Soo Lee,
Xiaomin Dou, Dinesh Mohan,
Jwa-Kyung Sung, Jae E Yang,
Yong Sik Ok (2012). Effects
of Pyrolysis Temperature on
Soybean Stover- and Peanut
Shell-derived Biochar
Properties and TCE
Adsorption in Water.
Bioresource Technology.
-
Niggli C, Schmidt HP
(2012). Biochar in European
Viticulture: Results of the
Season 2011. Ithaka Journal
1/ 2012: 250–261.
Delinat-Institute for
Ecology and Climatefarming,
CH-1974 Arbaz. ISSN
1663-0521. http://www.ithaka-journal.net/druckversionen/e022012-bc-viticulture.pdf.
-
D. Noguera, S. Barot, K.R.
Laossi, J. Cardoso, P.
Lavelle, c, M.H. Cruz de
Carvalho (2012). Biochar but
not earthworms enhances rice
growth through increased
protein turnover. Soil
Biology and Biochemistry.
-
Oleszczuk, Patryk, Rycaj
Marcin, Lehmann Johannes,
and Cornelissen Gerard
(2012). Influence of
activated carbon and biochar
on phytotoxicity of
air-dried sewage sludges to
Lepidium sativum.
Ecotoxicology and
Environmental Safety.
-
Pham Thi Luyen, Duong
Nguyen Khang and T R Preston
(2012). Effects of biochar
from gasifier stove and
effluent from biodigester on
growth of maize in acid and
fertile soils. Livestock
Research for Rural
Development 24 (5). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd24/5/luye24075.htm
-
Schimmelpfennig, Sonja and
Bruno Glaser (2012). One
Step Forward toward
Characterization: Some
Important Material
Properties to Distinguish
Biochars. Journal of
Environmental Quality.
41:1–13.
-
Shenbagavalli, S and
Mahimairaja, S (2012).
Characterization and Effect
of Biochar on Nitrogen and
Carbon Dynamics in Soil.
International Journal of
Advanced Biological
Research. VOL. 2(2) 2012:
249-255. http://www.scienceandnature.org/IJABR_Vol2(2)2012/IJABR_V2(2)13.pdf.
-
Tao Lu, Hao Ran Yuan, Shun
Gui Zhou, Hong Yu Huang,
Kobayashi Noriyuki, Yong
Chen (2012). On the
Pyrolysis of Sewage Sludge:
The Influence of Pyrolysis
Temperature on Biochar,
Liquid and Gas Fractions.
Journal Advanced Materials
Research (Volumes 518 - 523)
Volume Advances in
Environmental Science and
Engineering. Pages
3412-3420.
-
Tian-Yu Jiang, Jun Jiang,
Ren-Kou Xu, Zhuo Li (2012).
Adsorption of Pb(II) on
variable charge soils
amended with rice-straw
derived biochar.
Chemosphere.
-
Wang, Jinyang, Pan
Xiaojian, Liu Yinglie, Zhang
Xiaolin, and Xiong Zhengqin
(2012). Effects of biochar
amendment in two soils on
greenhouse gas emissions and
crop production. Plant and
Soil.
-
Zhang, Chao, Fu Zaihui, Liu
YaChun, Dai Baohua, Zou
Yanhong, Gong Xinglang, Wang
Yanlong, Deng Xiaolin, and
Wu Haitao (2012). Ionic
liquid-functionalized
biochar sulfonic acid as a
biomimetic catalyst for
hydrolysis of cellulose and
bamboo under microwave
irradiation. Green
Chemistry.
|
|
|
|
