Biochar: A Natural Climate Solution
Myno’s carbon removal facilities produce biochar, renewable electricity, and secure green jobs.
Biochar application has many co-benefits beyond removing and sequestering carbon. Biochar supports healthy forests and farms, improves soil health, stormwater filtration, and environmental remediation, as well as increases crop yields and revenue for farmers and timber managers.
Market opportunities for biochar are expanding and growing quickly. Several examples are summarized below:
Agriculture
Biochar can increase crop yield, and improve water and nutrient retention, improving drought resilience and reducing the need for carbon intensive chemical fertilizers. It can also be used as a carrier for microbial inoculants in seed coatings.
Horticulture
Biochar can be used as a component in potting media replacing peat, vermiculite, and perlite, all of which release significant amounts of carbon. Biochar can also be used in landscaping and turf management to improve plant health, improve water holding, and reduce fertilizer requirements.
Stormwater Green Infrastructure
Biochar is effective in filtering stormwater pollution and chemical toxins to support the protection of aquatic and environmental ecosystems. Biochar also supports healthy plant growth, making it an ideal additive to stormwater green infrastructure systems like rain gardens.
Industrial Materials
Biochar can be used as a substitute for petroleum-based carbon black, helping to decarbonize products such as car tires, paint, and plastics.
Filtration
Biochar can be used as a more cost-effective and less carbon-intensive substitute for activated carbon, particularly in environmental applications like soil, sediment, and stormwater remediation.
Animal Feed
Biochar can improve animal health and reduce enteric methane emissions when included as a component in cattle feed.
Anaerobic Digestion
Biochar addition improves efficiency and yield within dairy and wastewater treatment anaerobic digesters.
Composting
Biochar improves compost process efficiency and reduces odors and greenhouse gas output. It also results in a higher quality compost that improves plant health and growth.
Biochar at a Glance
WHAT IS BIOCHAR?
Biochar is a stable, highly porous form of carbon. Biochar is produced by heating wood waste from timber slash and industrial wood residuals with limited oxygen. This process retains the highly porous cellular structure of the original biomass. When applied to soil, the resultant biochar is stable in the environment for centuries.
Biochar can be made from almost any “clean” organic waste stream, including forestry and agricultural waste products. Myno uses wood waste from post timber harvest slash and industrial wood residuals to produce the highest quality biochar.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BIOCHAR?
Biochar sequesters carbon by transforming wood waste into a stable form of carbon that can endure in the soil for millennia while also providing other environmental benefits. When added to soil, biochar supports soil health by increasing water retention and drought resilience, improving crop yields, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, and sequestering carbon in the soil. Biochar can also be used for water filtration, soil remediation, a catalyst for anaerobic digestion, and as a feed additive for livestock. The process of creating biochar also produces renewable electricity for the grid, which we will use to support electric vehicle charging infrastructure.