Biochar Working Group

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Our group works to educate our community on the uses, advantages and production of biochar, charcoal that is used as a soil amendment.

Membership is free and open to residents of SSI.

Contact Brian Smallshaw for more information.

Biochar Working Group Activities

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How does biochar work?

Using open cavity kilns, wood waste such as tree branches and prunings can be turned into biochar for use in gardens and orchards to improve soil fertility. Wood burned in this way produces much less smoke than when burned in a normal burn pile and the biochar that is produced is very stable carbon; when placed in the soil it will remain there for much longer than if the wood had been allowed to decompose—producing biochar is a low-tech means of carbon sequestration.

Education

The Biochar Working Group regularly holds biochar workshops in all seasons except during the summer fire ban. Participants get hands-on training in making biochar from wood waste such such as branches and prunings using open cavity kilns, and advice on using biochar in their gardens and orchards. The workshops can be held in open locations where water is available, and a pickup truck can deliver a kiln. Workshops typically take three hours and participants are advised to wear boots, gloves, non-synthetic clothing and eye protection. Contact the group to join a workshop or organize one at your location.

Biochar Working Group
Charcoal

Goals

As of June 2022, there are about 20 open cavity kilns in use on Salt Spring, all of them owned by private individuals. The Biochar Working Group’s goal is to have a similar number of kilns owned collectively on the island and available to borrow by individuals wishing to make their own biochar. It is hoped that at least one of these public kilns could be located in every neighbourhood on the island so that individuals could borrow them for a week to do their burning in a kiln instead of an open burn pile.

Resources - Further Reading 

Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth by Alan Bates and Kathleen Draper.

Biochar Advantages

  • Improves the fertility of soils by providing habitats for beneficial soil bacteria and fungi.
  • Improves the moisture retention of the soil, important in our increasingly dry summers.
  • Biochar is highly stable in the soil, helping increase soil volume.
  • Making biochar in an open cavity kiln produces much less smoke than an open burn pile.
  • Biochar is a simple, low-tech means of carbon sequestration.
  • In the long term, turning wood into biochar emits less carbon than allowing it to decompose.
  • No external energy is required for its production, unlike with wood chipping.
  • The equipment for making biochar is simple, inexpensive and can be locally fabricated, unlike wood chippers.
Using fire to cool the earth

Biochar News, Resources, & Events

Biochar Burn in Clearwater, BC

Reducing Wildfire Risks & Biochar: TSS Members Travel to Clearwater, BC, to Talk About Forest Resiliency

On April 5th and 6th, Grace Fields, the TSS Project Coordinator for the Climate Adaptation Research Lab (CARL), and Brian Smallshaw (Biochar Working Group Lead) travelled up to Clearwater, BC, to speak to community members on improving the resiliency of their forests to climate change and wildfire. On Friday evening, organized by Astrid Arumae of…
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BioChar Activities and workshop on Salt Spring

December Biochar Workshop: presented by Brian Smallshaw Changed from Saturday, Dec 10 to SUNDAY, 11 December 2022 1-4pm Geri Alton’s horse paddock, 125 Stevens Road South end: Beaver Point Road, past Beaver Point Hall, turn right on King, left on Stevens – Geri’s place is the first property on the left. Workshop location is the horse…
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Biochar Kilns

(Biochar is charcoal that is produced by burning biomass in the absence of oxygen; it is used as a soil amendment. Biochar is a stable solid that is rich in carbon and can endure in soil for thousands of years. Biochar is being investigated as a means of carbon sequestration and as a means to mitigate climate change. Biochar may increase the soil fertility of acidic soils, increase agricultural productivity, and provide…
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Composting with Biochar

Composting with Biochar Video (filmed by Matt Cecill Visuals)By Rick Laing Rick explains the importance of adding biochar when building composts and by using no turn, low oxygen techniques, rich compost can be produced in 2 to 4 months. Biochar has remarkable absorptive qualities that store nutrients, microorganisms, water and odours. By keeping biochar composts…
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Environmentally Friendly Ways to Deal with Woody Debris

As published in the Gulf Islands Driftwood, January 23, 2019, p. 7- also from https://saltspringconservancy.ca/environmentally-friendly-ways-to-deal-with-woody-debris/ With so many branches and trees down from the big storm, it’s important to be Fire-Smart and remove woody debris from areas within 10 metres of our homes before fire season begins. And since a cigarette butt tossed from a car…
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