Biochar Community Conversations Overview
Our Goal: Introduce biochar benefits, technology and applications to rural communities as a tool to convert biomass waste to a valuable resource. Empower communities, through agency and business partnerships, to create soil amendments, renewable energy, businesses and local jobs. Background: Forest, agriculture and orchard management activities, economically and culturally vital in rural northeastern Washington, produce huge volumes of biomass waste. Using Biochar Community Conversations (BCC), our project will help people understand the life-cycle of biomass, its importance in ecosystem functions and how biomass waste can be reduced by producing biochar. Biochar production and use make important contributions to sustainable soil/air/water quality, climate and renewable energy. Lively, engaging presentations and conversations will build off existing knowledge and connect what people see and experience locally with basic principles of science, biological resilience and thriving ecosystems. Creating biochar from waste can reduce air pollution, reduce hazardous fuels in forest thus reducing the risk of wildfire, create a marketable product and lessen the volume of material being hauled to landfills. That reduces costs at our landfills and less money (and carbon footprint) spent on hauling. Our goal is to educate people about biomass waste so they are better able to: 1) effectively engage with public officials and businesses in solving biomass waste and environmental quality issues, 2) start a local biomass waste conversion business for profit, and/or 3) convert their own woody biomass waste into valuable products.
