Backyard Biochar

Biochar has been used for millennia in the indigenous Americas as non-exhausting soil amendment that provides home for trillions of useful microbes and preserver of moisture with its fractal microcavities. It’s made by heating wood without oxygen at a high temperature – pyrolysis – which heats off the lignins, oils and other non-carbon materials leaving a lightweight carbon skeleton that can be crushed and added to compost to create a super growing medium.

After reading this article from Los Alamos National Laboratories, I thought high tech machinery would be required. But Peter Callen, of Albuquerque’s Open Space Common Habitat, showed me a way anyone can make it at home, with common available components that cost under a $100.

Materials required:

Further Biochar Resources: