Tree species for char?

[Kaufarmer]

Can Christmas Berry be used for making char? Just wondering. I've used
it chipped up for mulching walkways with no problem. Just didn't know
if anyone has tried using it as char yet or not. Needless to say, I
have a virtually unlimited supply of the stuff over here in Ka'u.

I've been using ohia, eucalyptus, and strawberry guava as my primary
sources for char. I've also used some guava, coconut, ironwood, and
macadamia.

...Su Ba

[Ben Discoe]

Hi Su Ba,

Yes. Evidence to date seems to indicate that the type of woody source
material isn't particularly important, and Christmas Berry (Schinus
terebinthifolius) is a fairly normal tree in that regard.

In the biochar presentation i've given a few times, i have a slide
addressing the following point:

Critics of wide-scale use of biochar say it might someday encourage somebody
to cut a native forest, or clear vegetation to create biomass plantations.
Solution: Don't do that. There are vast sources of waste biomass and
invasive woody species around the world, use them. Here in Hawaii some
examples being:

? Macnut shell
? Waiawi
? Eucalyptus
? Christmas berry
? Albizia
? Haole koa
? Gorse
? etc.

-Ben