8/9/2019 Biochar ~ Terra Preta ~ Pyrolisis

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/biochar-terra-preta-pyrolisis 1/2

Mr. Donald Belk, AICP,

Regional Planner.

BRAC RTF 

Dr. Leonard Bull,

25x25’ Carbon Working Group.

Retired NCSU Professor

Mr. Peter Campbell,

Biologist. U.S. Fish andWildlife Service

Mr. James Dougherty,

Executive Director. RLUAC

Dr. Sid Gautam,

Founder/Director. Methodist

University Center for

Entrepreneurship

Mr. Jason Hoyle,

 Appalachian State UniversityEnergy Institute

Dr. Larry Keene,

President. Fayetteville Technical

Community College

Ms. Nomee Landis,

Freelance Writer, former

Fayetteville Observer reporter

Mr. Jon Parsons, PE,

Executive Director.Sustainable Sandhills

Mr. John Ray,

Soil Conservationist,

USDA. NRCS. (retired)

Mr. Roger Sheats,

President. Cape Fear River

 Assembly, Inc

Dr. Johnny Wynne,

Dean NSCU, College of Agriculture

and Life Sciences

Dr. Richard Perritt, E xEcutivE DirEctor

Board of directors

Ms. Sharon Valentine, founder and president 

Owner/Operator. Privateer Farm

Mr. Edward Pickett, vice president 

Raymond James Financial Services

Mr. Carey Downing, Jr., treasurer 

CPA, Downing and Downing

Mr. William Clark, secretary 

Attorney at Law

Mr. Scott Weathington,

President and Agronomist. Agri-technologies

Dr. Marshall Burkes,

Financial Consultant. Lumbee River Electric

 advisory Board

North CaroliNa Farm CeNter

For iNNovatioN aNd SuStaiNability

PO Box 53329

Fayetteville, NC 28305

910-630-6232

www.ncfarmcenter.orgrperritt@ncfarmcenter.org

biochar:a charcoal-like substance made fromthe burning of agricultural waste to

create potentially carbon negative,

highly productive, sustainable

farming.

terra preta:biochar found near ancientindigenous settlements that continues

to enhance Amazonian soils today.

pyrolisis:the process of heating agricultural

and forestry waste without oxygen at

high temperatures to create biochar.

North CaroliNa

Farm CeNter

for  innovation  and sustainability 

BIOCHAR

DEMONSTRATION

PROGRAM

8/9/2019 Biochar ~ Terra Preta ~ Pyrolisis

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/biochar-terra-preta-pyrolisis 2/2

FOR FUTURE

GENERATIONS

The NC Farm Center for Innovation and Sustainability is launching a three-year project to test biochar. Biochar is

produced by converting agro-forest waste biomass to carbon-

rich charcoal. When added to the soil, it attracts nutrients that

increase plant growth. It could simultaneously make farming more

sustainable and turn agricultural fields enriched with biochar into

vaults for storing carbon.

The NC Farm Center was awarded over $500,000 from a USDA

Conservation Innovation Grant to test the first mobile pyrolysis

units in the United States. Matching funds provided by privatedonors have brought the total budget for the project to roughly

$1.24 million. The three year project will demonstrate the potential

of biochar in agriculture and timber management while creating

new opportunities for farms.

Biochar is a carbon negative, charcoal like substance. 

that promises to:Increase plant productivity and yieldV

Enhance moisture and nutrient retention and transportVNurture beneficial soil organismsV

Reduce the amount of commercial fertilizer needed whileV

enhancing its efficiency

Is a one-time amendment, highly resistant to decompositionV

Sequester carbon in the soil for hundreds of yearsV

Biochar is produced through pyrolysis technology. The Center has acquired the first mobile pyrolysis unit from

BiocharSystems located in Colorado. The NC Farm Center will

operate the unit to demonstrate the benefits of biochar applications

on the 6,000 acres of Privateer Farm.

Biochar is especially promising for improving the quality of 

eastern North Carolina’s marginal, sandy soils. The demise of the

state’s original cash crop, tobacco, has forced farmers to search

for alternative crops that are suited to small and medium-sized

farms. With biochar, a small farmer in North Carolina is in a strong

position to effectively increase production for the state’s growing

local food market.

Typical North Carolina crops will be examined under varying

conditions of biochar amendments on two separate farm sites.

Testing will occur on both Privateer Farm and on a second,

neighboring farm owned and operated by professional agronomist

W. Scott Weathington.

Biochar research was first

inspired by the discovery of  Terra 

Preta , or “black earth”, soils in the

Amazon River Basin, where an

ancient civilization buried charcoal,

along with fish bones, kitchen scraps,

compost, and pottery shards,

transforming otherwise barren tropicalsoil into Terra Preta . These soils are

still incredibly fertile today.

The results of the NC Farm Center project are important

to affirm the varied benefits and improvements to soil fertility

management and sustainable forest management possible with

Biochar. By investing in the first available mobile Pyrolysis machine,

manufactured by BioSystems LLC and Bioengineering Corp., the

Center hopes to demonstrate an innovative technology and prove

that Biochar can help farmers and forest landowners. The NCFarm Center hopes the findings will help stimulate a rural green

economy in North Carolina.

The mobile Pyrolysis machine was manufactured by BioSystems

LLC and Bioengineering Corp. located in Golden, Colorado. www.biocharsystems.com

The NC Farm Center and BiocharSystems are dedicated 

to promoting the understanding and the multiple uses of biochar

and its technology. At Privateer Farm, we practice whole

systems management and welcome new ideas for improving the

demonstration of biochar potential.

“Farmers, ranchers and forest landowners can play a

very important role in addressing climate change and creating

a new energy economy. Biochar has the potential to create

opportunities for the agriculture and forestry sectors to mitigate

the effects of a changing climate while creating jobs in rural

communities and offering new income sources to landowners.

Landowners may eventually use biochar as a soil amendmentto improve agricultural production and enhance carbon storage,

with income potential from sale of carbon offsets.“--US Agricultural Secretary Vilsack, Aug 10, 2009

A

SOLUTION