The Great Plains Biochar Initiative (GPBI) aims to improve biochar awareness and market development in the Great Plains.
GPBI aims to improve biochar awareness and market development in the Great Plains. This grant initiative is funded by the USDA Forest Service and is a partnership between the Nebraska Forest Service, Kansas Forest Service, Wilson Biochar Associates, and High Plains Biochar, LLC.
Initiative Goals:
- Provide hands-on learning experiences with industry experts
- Provide technical assistance to individuals and organizations interested in utilizing or producing biochar
- Host biochar workshops and trainings
- Offer biochar production and utilization grants
- Identify new markets for biochar
- Promote existing biochar market opportunities
Questions about Biochar? Contact Kim: kslezak2@unl.edu
Biochar is a pure carbon product made from organic material. It's produced through a process called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the decomposition of organic matter at very high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. It changes the chemical structure of the organic matter undergoing the process.
Benefits of Biochar
- Carbon sequestration
- Improvements in plant growth and yield
- Improvements in soil nutrient retention
- Improvements in soil moisture retention
- Improvements in soil structure
- Provides habitat for soil microorganisms
- Reduces burning and landfilling of agricultural and forestry wastes
- Reduce soil pH
Uses for Biochar
- Amending soils
- Water filtration for bioswales, rain gardens, and large filtration systems
- Cattle feed
- Odor control of animal bedding, slurry ponds, and feedlots
- Erosion control at construction sites or areas with highly erodible soils
Combined Heat & Biochar Webinar
In the process of making biochar from biomass, thermal energy is produced that can be used for heating and cooling. Systems that take advantage of both the biochar and the energy are called Combined Heat and Biochar or CHAB. The basics of CHAB systems, available technologies, appropriate applications, and the economics of combined heat and biochar.
Biochar Fact Sheets for Industries
- Stormwater Filter Pollutants with Biochar
- Soil Blends Biochar Increase Plant Survival
- Road Map for Advancing Industry Biochar's Unrealized Potential
- Biochar Improves Manure Management
- Carbon Markets Biochar Removes Carbon
- Biochar in Compost