February 2024 Newsletter

News from the Global Biochar Industry

From my vantage point, 2024 has started out strong for the biochar industry. IBI began the year at the perennial favorite event in Europe (and a top favorite anywhere!) at Bio360. I shared my thoughts on trends at the event, which included IBI Board Chair Lucia Brusegan’s favorite saying, “biochar is a system”, and the fact that scaling the industry is actively happening with ever-larger projects, funding, technology and equipment growing alongside.

Soon after Bio360, I was perhaps the only biochar-focused person at a Bezos Earth Fund and US Department of Energy-organized “Scaling Greenhouse Gas Removals” workshop. While grateful to be there, I learned a great deal in those rooms about how we in the biochar industry can do more to promote biochar’s place in the voluntary carbon market landscape, with 94% of 2023 delivered carbon credits while only receiving about 12% of CDR funding (CDR.fyi).

And we celebrated Valentine’s Day at the North American Biochar Conference organized by our colleagues and friends at USBI. If you weren’t there, please save the date for their 2025 conference and make sure to attend this very international conference!

At the conference, alongside USBI Operations Director Myles Gray, I presented a high-level preview of the IBI – USBI global market research report, available in early March. (Sign up here to get the open access report as soon as it’s published) Here are some teasers until we publish the full report.

IBI proudly presents our newest resource that showcases biochar as an innovative solution to combat persistent pollutants like PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been widely used in various industrial and consumer products for their water- and grease-resistant properties. Often referred to as “forever chemicals”, PFAS break down extremely slowly, if at all, over long periods of time.

Containing Contaminants: Harnessing Biochar for Effective Pollution Control is a free downloadable guide overviewing how biochar can be a versatile and effective means to significantly reduce PFAS contamination and more.

IBI is thrilled to partner with ECHO Asia Impact Center to deliver IBI’s Biochar Academy in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 5–11 May 2024. 

IBI’s Biochar Academy is an immersive in-person, multi-day, hands-on workforce development course designed to equip emerging and future biochar professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to become effective biochar advocates, educators, and practitioners. This unique experiential learning program blends expert presentations and demonstrations with hands-on practice to engage participants with contemporary knowledge and real-world biochar production and application.

Registration opens in late February!

Scholarships are available on a limited basis. To apply for a scholarship, complete this form.

Partner and Member Updates

FEATURE: From locking carbon in the soil to improving soil health, the co-benefits of biochar as a climate change solution are many. Read IBI Executive Director’s thought piece on biochar and soil on Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH)’s blog. 

OPPORTUNITY: Nominate yourself, a company, a colleague, or a friend for the Australian New Zealand Biochar Industry Group (ANZBIG)’s National Biochar Awards! Open through 29 February. 

NEWS: Learn more about IBI members Restoration Bioproducts LLC and their soon-to-be operational flagship biochar facility in Virginia in Biomass Magazine. The Waverly Project will aim to serve as proof of concept for their model of building small biochar plants in rural areas, embracing a risk-averse approach to growing the biochar industry.

FEATURE: Alumni of the inaugural IBI Biochar Academy have teamed up with artist Ben Von Wong to create the Biochar Phoenix project in Thailand — an incredible blend of biochar and art.

NEWS: IBI members Biomass Controls PBC has been accepted into the NextCycle Colorado program. NextCycle Colorado empowers innovators to tackle environmental challenges and drive carbon circular economy initiatives across the state of Colorado.

OPPORTUNITY: The CHEC Research Centre at DTU Chemical Engineering is looking for a postdoc in the field of thermochemical conversion of biomass and analytical chemistry with focus on investigating environmental issues related to the production and use of biochar via slow pyrolysis. Learn more.

NEWS: IBI members Clean Maine Carbon were featured for their entrepreneurial innovation for climate change solutions through biochar and its many co-benefits.

FEATURE: The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to scaling soil health, globally. Their upcoming Virtual Webinar Series will explore soil-related themes and dive into bringing soil health into policy, science & knowledge for improving and monitoring soil health, and financing healthy soil practices. Learn more and register for all three sessions. 

NEWS: A new Farmer’s Guide to the production, use, and application is coming this March 2024! Stay tuned for an exciting new resource from Professor Stephen Joseph and Dr. Paul Taylor — visit ANZBIG’s website for more information about an immersive workshop and launch event on 22 March.

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