Blenheim firm CarbonScape one to watch

From Marlborough climate action group Climate Karanga, says biochar will be a game-changer.

Hugh Steadman,

represent the single most effective step that Marlborough’s farmers and gardeners can take towards improvement of soil quality and efficient control of plant water requirements.

Not only does the use of biochar help agricultural productivity but, were its use ever to become globalised (which Carbonscape’s Chairman, Tim Langley, sincerely hopes will ultimately happen) it could have a major effect on mitigating climate change by capturing and permanently sequestering gigatons of atmospheric carbon.

Biochar use can also reduce emissions of two other potent greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide and methane.

At a more down-to-earth level, the incorporation of biochar into agricultural soils greatly enhances their texture and fertility. It reduces the need for chemical and fertiliser inputs as well as, through its enhanced moisture holding capacity, reducing the need for irrigation. By retaining nutrients and agrichemical applications within the soil, biochar actively contributes to the prevention of leaching of these substances into waterways.

There are many ways in which the biochar can be incorporated into the soil.

For home gardeners, it will present no problem, once sacks of biochar, like potting mix, become available from garden centres. Some experimenters have claimed that as little as 2 per cent biochar in a plant’s root zone is enough to make a discernible difference to its growth. New tree plantings can readily have biochar added to the planting hole. New orchards can have the biochar pre-filled along the rows. In Western Australia, a dairy farmer has made his soil so fertile that he no longer needs any fertilisers. He feeds his cattle a mixture of molasses and biochar and lets imported dung-beetles carry the biochar below ground. (Look up Doug Pow on Youtube.) In Otago, an organic winery is using a mole-plough between established rows to inject biochar beneath the surface. Biochar, once incorporated, doesn’t leach out, but remains active in the soil for centuries.

The reason that biochar is not already in common use is due to its very limited availability at an economically viable price. Thanks to Carbonscape’s development, for growers in Marlborough, that situation looks as though it is going to change. Should they be prepared to take up their unique opportunity, Carbonscape’s biochar could give them a qualitative edge over other producers world-wide.