Making Biochar Commercially Viable; Recent Experiences from around the World. Stephen Joseph

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1 Making Biochar Commercially Viable; Recent Experiences from around the World Stephen Joseph

2 The Changing Context of The Biochar Industry 1.China with government backing is seeing a rapid growth in both companies manufacturing equipment and biochar based products 2.Products are being tailored for specific applications especially in horticulture 3.Farmers are innovating and finding ways of making biochars work at application rates that are profitable. 4.Researchers are now starting to develop so called designer or engineered biochar products 5.Biochar is being integrated into larger waste managemtnand renewable energy projects

3 Commercially Viable Products and Applications 1.Biochar Mineral/Compost NPK Fertilisers 2.Biochar Mineral Compost Biofertilisers for High Value Crops 3.Biochar and Energy in Waste Management 4.Remediation of Contaminated and Degraded Land with High Value Crops 5.Feeding to Animals and into Biogas Digestors 6.Foliar Sprays and Liquid Fertilisers

4 Profitability and Many Plant Responses are Dependent on How Much and Where the Biochar (s) is Added to the Soil; Profitability Biochar A Biochar B Biochar C Rate t/ha Rate t/ha Rate t/ha Disease resistance/sorption ability = D-R max ; Yield= G-R max Jaiswal et al 2015 Plant and Soil

5 Mixed Biochars Produced at Household in Nth Vietnam Improves Crop Yields and Income Reduces Odours and Reduces Women s Work Load

6 Mixed Biochars Produced at Household Level Improves Crop Yields and Income Reduces Odours and Reduces Women s Work Load Biochar (BC) at 500kg/ha with 100kg/ha N, 90kg/ha P 2 O 5, 60kg K 2 O (BCNPK100%) Compost at 5t/ha (CP) + NPK or Compost + 250kg/ha(BC)+ NPK Treatments also with 50% NPK Greatest Yield from compost + BC + NPK and then BCNPK 100% Greatest profit from BC +100%NPK = Profit Tonnes Compost/Biochar/NPK

and microbes and surface analysis N Si P S K

82 4.54 Mg1s 1304.69 0.33 Ca2p 347.27 0.

7 Feeding Biochar and Molasses to Cows (.33kg/day) + Dung Beetles Increases Pasture Productivity by 25% Animal Health and C Sequestration Biochar Coated with nutrients and microbes and surface analysis N Si P S K Ca Fe C1s O1s N1s Mg1s Ca2p P2p Cl2p Si2p S2p

BC Soil Properties With BC 0-5cm C= 5.7 N=.48 ph= 5.4 C= 6.0 N=.47 ph= 6.

8 Biochar Increased Pasture Productivity by 25%; Biochar was taken through the soil to a depth of 40cm and has increased ph, C and N content Depth Soil Properties No BC Soil Properties With BC 0-5cm C= 5.7 N=.48 ph= 5.4 C= 6.0 N=.47 ph= cm 40cm C= 2.1 N=.13 ph= 5.0 C= 3.6 N=.24 ph= 6.1 C=.67 N=.03 ph= 5.3 C= 2.0 N=.11 ph= 5.8

9 Benefits in Feeding Biochar to Cows and Adding Dung Beetles Over Three Years Costs 1) Waste wood biochar from Silicon smelter purchased at $120/tonne and cost of biochar/molasses feed is 6 cents/day 2) Increased in labour to feed cows is 5 cents per day Benefits 1) No hay is required as biochar can provide the same function as a fibre substitue. Cost of hay per cow is $1.10/day this includes feed and labour to spread the hay 2) No chemical fertiliser is required for pasture and no worm drench was needed. 3) After the first year of feeding biochar available P in the worst paddock went from 34ppm to 86ppm. The level for 95% pasture productivity is 52ppm using the CSIRO calculator.

10 Benefits in Feeding Biochar to Cows and Adding Dung Beetles No Drenching and Insecticide, No Purchase Hay and Fertilisers Strategies CP1 CP2 $ CP3 Biochar Costs Fertiliser $5,210 $5,210 $6,630 Drench $600 $600 $600 Insect Spray $500 $500 $500 Hay $15,600 $13,200 $7,000 Maintenance/Depreciation $3,000 Biochar/Molasses $1,000 Total Costs $21,910 $19,510 $17,730 $1,000 Income $54,000 $54,000 $54,000 $49,500 Income-Costs $32,090 $34,490 $36,270 $48,500 CP1= Buying hay CP2 = Growing hay. Contractor to harvest CP3 = Growing hay and harvesting oneself Increase of $12,250/yr.

11 Cow Farmer Applied BC to Grow Avocados Using Mechanised Equipment; Super P and Mg, Cu, Zn, Mg Suphate; Biochar 5%,10%,20%, Control. BC at 5% Double Leaf Area and Stem Diam.; Less H2O, 23% less Cl and More Flowers Control Biochar

12 Commercialisation of Biochar in China Policy and Market Setting 1. Many areas have banned the burning or dumping of residues. 1. Financial incentives offered are structured as a feed-in-tariff for straw bioenergy 2. Low carbon rice husk biochar can be purchased from Bioenergy Plants for approximately $100/tonne. High quality biochar sells for between $300 and $500/tonne. 3. Meta analysis shows yield increases 10% are seen at biochar application rates of greater than 10 tonnes/ha (base line case) Clare et al 2014 Carbon Management

13 Cost Benefit Analysis from Producers Perspective: Pyrolysis is Unprofitable with Biochar Price of $100/tonne with Subsidies $100/tonne biochar $300 /tonne biochar Government subsidies are very influential to profitability as is the crop yield and price of the biochar. Break even is approximately $120/tonne with subsidy and $210/tonne without subsidy

14 Compound Biochar NPK Clay Fertiliser 20% Wheat Straw Biochar (90kg/ha), 5% Bentonite Clay and 75%NPK Granule Applied at 450kg/ha Demonstration Field Plot in Anh Hui. Farmer reported 18% and a reduction in disease

15 Experimental Results Field Trials; Rice Yield Increase 39% Yield Chemical Fertiliser 8.2 +/-.75 t/ha BioChar NPK Fertiliser /- 1.12t/ha N Uptake Grain Chemical Fertiliser /- 11.4kg/ha BioChar NPK Fertiliser =/ kg/ha Joseph et al 2013 Shifting Paradigms Carbon Management

17 Financial Analysis for Farmer with.45ha Land Based on Field Trial for One Season With Rice Assuming 1/5 Lower Pesticide Use and Reduction of Urea from 126kg/ha to 111kg/ha. Rice Yield Increased from 8.2t/h to 11.4t/ha Costs for Farmer Fertiliser NPK + urea $ $131.1 Biochar NPK +urea $ $128.4 Seed $ $45.0 $45.0 Pesticide $ $121.5 $97.2 Mechanical Harvesting $ $100 $100 Total Cost $397.6 $370.6 Revenue Sale of Rice $ $1,365.3 $1,898.1 Income-Costs $ $967.7 $1,527.5 % Increase in income % 58%

18 Economics Can Change When Biochar Applied at 100kg/ha with NPK but Depends on the Type of Biochar AB Yield (Tonnes/ha) D CCF MS-BCF PH-BCF HW-BCF WS-BCF Chemical compound fertilizer (CCF), maize straw (MS-BCF), peanut husk (PH- BCF), household waste (HW-BCF) and wheat straw (MW-BCF)) applied at 500kg/ha to rice paddy (Joseph et al 2013)

19 Greater than 50% Increase in Broccolini Yield with Addition of 1 t/ha of Wood BC From Kontiki Kiln Soaked in Liquid NPK and Enhanced Biochar 20%/NPK80% Applied at Approx 800kg/ha Biochar/NPK NPK

20 Biochar Produced with Mixed Feedstock, Minerals and Acid Activation + NPK Potato farmers wish to decrease their input of fertilisers, increase yields and also decrease loss through disease A new biochar with high mineral content was developed to enhance the efficiency of NPK fertiliser for growing seed potatoes Standard Fertilisation 7N;14P;14K at 778kg/ha Replaced fertiliser with 5%, 10%,20% and 40% enhanced biochar

21 Biochar Energy Systems (BES) Pty Ltd Low Cost Open Source Transportable Trough Pyrolyser

22 Method of Making the Biochar 1. Make ash by taking the biochar from the pyrolyser at 350C, wet and add finely ground basalt and micro nutrients 2. mix and make into a fine slurry 3. then add clay 4. and then coat straw and chicken litter and allow to dry slowly 5. pyrolyse at 425 C-450 C 6. adjust ph to 7.5 with 50% solution of Phosphoric acid 7. Mix NPK and biochar and allow to stand in bag for 2 weeks.

23 Results of Trials with Enhanced Biochar; 20 tonne/ha Improvement

24 Improvement in Saleable Seed Potatoes of 10% with 10% Biochar Replacement

25 Results of Trials; Economics Farmer is only paid for the potato seedlings that are in the correct size range mm. The amount is given in the previous graph The amount earnt per hectare if 10% of biochar and 90% NPK is used is $23,100 The amount earnt per hecatare if 100% NPK is used is $14,000 By replacing approximately 80kg of NPK with an enhanced biochar the profit could be as high as $9100/hectare

26 Conservation Farming in Wheat Fields in South Australia 1.Injection of poultry litter biochar with diamonnium phosphate (DAP) underneath seeds in bands using a direct drilling seeder. 2. No Till Farming in calcareous soil with ph approximately Three replicates plots 1.5m by 13.5m 4. Various ratios of poultry litter biochar and DAP 1.Third year of testing on different sites. Same Trend as this test

27 Treatment T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 DAP kg/ha PL Biochar kg/ha Mean Yield T/ha replicates and random block design

28 Farmer with 500 hectares of Marginal Wheat Producing Fields Adds 35kg/ha of BC ($400/tonne) and 50kg/ha of DAP ($640/tonne) makes $50,000 more than apply 50kg/ha DAP

29 Conclusions; Biochar in Conservation Farming 1.Banding small amounts of high mineral ash biochar with chemical fertilisers the most profitable strategy for farmers with large amount of marginal land 2.Optimal ratio of biochar/dap for different soils and different biochar types 3.Experience indicates that the high mineral ash biochars leads to greatest increase in yields for a constant chemical fertiliser input 4.Need to develop enhanced biochars that can boost yield well above 20% to really induce farmers to change their agronomic practice

30 Project definition -Crop; -expected yield (t/ha) - cultivation area (ha) - total expected output (t) Crop Element Requirement - requirement db (kg/t) from db - total element requirement (kg) Soil specification - Soil Elements (kg/ha) from db - Available soil elements (kg/ha) - Nutrient Uptake Efficiency (%) - Total element available (kg) Bio-char composition - local available biomass (t) - material / labour costs - other (t) - Total elements added (kg) Proposed Methodology for Developing Cost Effective Biochar Formulations Crop database - Crop Element Requirement (kg/t) - Desired ph and Eh for Optimal Growth and improvement in beneficial micro-organisms - Soil database (external) - Soil Type and basic properties - Soil Elements (kg/ha) - Soil physical and chemical constraints. Material database - Material Element contents (kg/t) - ph EC, Eh, Available NPK, DOC, CEC Fertilizer composition - biochar composition (t) - Material selection (t) - total elements added (kg) Bussiness scenario - Total costs - Total quantities -Total Income Bussiness scenarios - Income, costs, profit - materials used

Biochar in Horticulture

Biochar in Horticulture Profitability and Many Plant Responses are Dependent on How Much and Where the Biochar (s) is Added to the Soil; Profitability Biochar A Biochar B Biochar C Rate t/ha Rate t/ha