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Carbon in biochar is worth 3.67 CO₂e” -  3.67 factor itself is a basic chemical conversion, not a hypothesis that needs testing. It comes from the molar mass ratio of CO₂ to elemental carbon (44/12 ≈ 3.67), which is used in many biochar and carbon accounting studies to convert tonnes of carbon sequestered into the equivalent amount of CO₂ prevented from returning to the atmosphere

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Biochar to improve the thermal performance of living wall systems: laboratory assessment of three planting substrates

Abstract

Living wall systems (LWSs) help to alleviate the climate and biodiversity harms associated with buildings and bring benefits to building occupants. Their performance can be variable and existing research points to the planting substrate as a key design factor. This study provides quantitative evidence on the physical, thermal and moisture performance of three planting substrates that vary according to the proportion of biochar added to green waste compost (GWC). Thermal conductivity (Wm −1 K −1), thermal resistivity (mK W −1), volumetric moisture content (%) and mass (g) are measured for each fraction, replicated six times. Controlled drying procedures were employed, measuring these properties at a range of moisture levels. Data analysis finds that volumetric moisture content and biochar fraction have a statistically significant ( p ≤ 0.05) effect on thermal conductivity. Added biochar is associated with non-linear reductions in thermal conductivity at low moisture levels. This suggests increasing the biochar fraction while reducing moisture in the substrate of a LWS will reduce its thermal conductivity, with a 100 mm planting substrate with 30% biochar and 30%vol moisture content providing 0.82 m ² KW −1 of thermal resistance, compared to 0.46 m ² KW −1 without added biochar. The methods build on previous work to assess the properties of different planting substrates for LWSs, providing a practical, lab-based assessment of biochar. The data produced are useful for researchers and professionals seeking to understand how biochar additions impact irrigation and thermal performance when specifying and designing LWSs and underline the potential value of biochar for improving the thermal performance of green infrastructure more widely.

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

LWSs bring a range of benefits, but evidence is needed to ensure appropriate planting substrate and irrigation.

Laboratory assessment of thermal performance when adding biochar to green waste compost for a range of moisture levels.

Non-linear thermal conductivity reductions at low moisture with added biochar.

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1 Introduction

The built environment is responsible for 34% of energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions globally (Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction 2024). The climate crisis is intertwined with many other crises, least of all the global loss of biodiversity (WWF 2022; Ripple et al. 2024). Nature-based solutions such as LWSs can help to mitigate both the climate and biodiversity harms attributed to buildings (UK Green Building Council 2022; CIOB 2023, pp. 179-186) and have been found to provide extensive benefits for the performance of buildings (Manso et al. 2021).

LWSs are a specific type of vertical greening system that involve installing a substrate on a wall into which plants root and grow (Bustami et al. 2018). LWSs include modular (Manso and Castro-Gomes 2015; Bustami et al. 2018), linear (Medl et al. 2017), continuous (Manso and Castro-Gomes 2015; Oquendo-Di Cosola et al. 2022) and double plant-skin façade systems (Bao et al. 2023). LWSs require irrigation and nutrition which are often provided by a watering system (Bustami et al. 2018). As the adoption of LWSs grows, this paper provides a practical, lab-based way to assess different planting substrates for use in LWSs at the design stage of a LWS project.

1.1 The benefits attributed to living wall systems

LWSs contribute to improved indoor and outdoor environmental quality, as plants in these systems purify the air through botanical biofiltration, which requires less energy and lower maintenance than a mechanical ventilation system (Alvarado-Alvarado et al. 2024). In-situ monitoring has found that LWSs contribute to reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration (Dominici et al. 2021), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (Alvarado-Alvarado et al. 2024) and particulate matter (PM) (Shao et al. 2021; Koch et al. 2023). This depends on the planting substrate (Alvarado-Alvarado et al. 2024), planting (Hellebaut et al. 2022; Koch et al. 2023; Falzone et al. 2024), ventilation (Plitsiri and Taemthong 2024), size of the LWS (Mobarhan et al. 2024) and orientation (Qian et al. 2024).

LWSs provide additional insulation (Abdeen and Rafaat 2024). Steady-state modelling for a variety of wall types by Vijayalaxmi and Gandham ( 2023) found that LWSs increase thermal resistance by between 12.76% for an insulated cavity wall and 93.60% for an uninsulated brick wall. In a comparative monitoring study in the United Kingdom, Fox et al. ( 2022) found that a solid masonry wall with an external LWS applied had an in-situ U-value of 0.77 Wm −2 K −1, compared to 1.12 Wm −2 K −1 without an external LWS, reducing thermal transmittance by 31%. Tudiwer and Korjenic ( 2017) carried out a similar experiment with a green façade and LWS in Vienna, finding that thermal resistance increased by 0.31 m ² KW −1 for a modular LWS and 0.68 m ² KW −1 for a continuous LWS. Nan et al. ( 2020) isolated the impact of plants and substrate by comparing a bare and planted wall, attributing insulation benefits to each component. The extent of the insulating effect depends on the existing wall construction, as well as plant-and building-specific factors (Karimi et al. 2022).

1.2 How planting substrates affect the performance of LWSs

The performance of LWSs is variable (Manso et al. 2021) and achieving their benefits depends on many design factors. These include orientation (Nan et al. 2020; Bakhtyari et al. 2024), the typology (Bakhshoodeh et al. 2022), the mounting system (Rowe et al. 2022; Jimenez et al. 2024), the properties of the wall the LWS is attached to (Vijayalaxmi and Gandham 2023), any gap between the wall and LWS (Bakhshoodeh et al. 2022), access to light (Dominici et al. 2021), plant selection (Nan et al. 2020; Cortês et al. 2021; Koch et al. 2023), irrigation (Kaltsidi et al. 2020) and substrate (Dede et al. 2021).

So far, research into the performance of LWSs suggests that thermal conductivity varies between different substrates and is not comparable to modern insulation materials (Table 1). Usowicz et al. ( 2016) measured the thermal properties of pure biochar, finding that a mix of fraction sizes led to an increase in thermal conductivity. This was explained by higher bulk density, which indicates that smaller particles filled gaps between larger ones and thus reduced porosity. Libessart and Kenai ( 2018) studied five different substrates, finding that a coconut substrate achieved the lowest thermal conductivity. Lunt et al. ( 2023) found that a biochar-coconut substrate had the lowest thermal conductivity of three substrates across a range of moisture contents. Biochar-coconut was also able to hold water, maintain the same density and contain pockets with large volumes of air. This agrees with wider findings that organic matter content decreases thermal conductivity as it is associated with increased porosity (Zhu et al. 2019).

1.3 The potential role of biochar in improving the performance of LWSs

Biochar additions could also improve plant growth. Biochar has been found to positively influence seed germination and seedling growth due to its effects on water-holding capacity of substrates and available minerals (Ali et al. 2021). The alkaline nature of biochar has also been found to increase pH in some soils (Dayoub et al. 2023) which could improve plant growth. A meta-analysis by Xiang et al. ( 2017) found that biochar additions improved root traits, increasing root biomass, volume, surface area, length and the number of root tips. Biochar may also support plant performance through associated changes in microbial diversity and metabolic potential in the rhizosphere (Kolton et al. 2017). High ratios of biochar could, however, negatively affect plant performance (Gale and Thomas 2019). The benefits of biochar additions for plant growth depend on dose, plant species (Gale and Thomas 2019) and biochar feedstock (Gascó et al. 2016; Xu et al. 2024).

However, there are however aspects of biochar that have not yet been explored fully, such as its effects on substrates over a long period of time of ten to twenty years (Spokas 2010) and how moderation of moisture environment regulates the soil environment for long-term plant performance.

1.4 Research questions

Because of the "lack of empirical data on the effects of living wall planting substrate on building insulation" (Fox et al. 2022), the substrate became the focus of this study. Evidence on the physical, thermal and moisture properties of different LWS planting substrates is needed to make informed decisions about whether biochar-enhanced substrates work well alongside other design parameters and climatic conditions (Dede et al. 2021).

This paper therefore assesses the impact of added biochar on the thermal and moisture performance of LWS planting substrate using a practical, lab-based test. The study had two principal research questions: The research questions (RQs) were:

Answering these questions will help to address variability in performance (Manso et al. 2021) and empower professionals with data to optimise performance when planning and designing LWSs.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Description of the three planting substrates

Three planting substrates were compared in this investigation which are characterised by different ratios of GWC and biochar (Fig. 1). Two had added biochar and one used only GWC to provide a baseline.

The biochar was manufactured by Trimplants Wholesale Nursery (Trimplants 2024), Combe Raleigh, Devon, UK using local hardwood in Dartmoor Dragon biochar retorts (Charcoal 2024). This biochar is characterized by a compact retort and smaller feedstock, such as hedge laying arising and smaller diameter branches. Pyrolysis takes place in a metal barrel which creates a controlled, oxygen-free pyrolysis environment at 650-800 °C. Based on data provided by the manufacturer, the surface area ranges from 300 to 1000 m ² g ⁻¹, depending on feedstock and processing conditions. The biochar has a high microporosity, is aklaline (pH ~ 9-11) and high C/O ratio indicating increased stability and a carbon-rich structure. The high temperature is associated with higher electrical conductivity, higher nutrient absorption and lower volatile matter (Table 2)

Samples were measured into one litre volumes and were well mixed using a barrel mixer for one minute each. This involved 30 turns of the mixer to improve the homogeneity of the material. Substrates were sourced locally and divided into 100 mm wide columns which represent a standardised protocol for substrate testing (Lunt et al. 2023). Because they are non-homogenous materials, and some variation can be expected in the planting substrate, six samples of each mix were created.

2.2 Measurement

The 18 samples were then placed in a 3-in-deep tray of water for 24 h to fully saturate them after which any excess water was then poured away. The samples were placed in a 40 °C oven for 10 min and then allowed to return to room temperature over a further 10 min.

Appropriate apparatus with sufficient accuracy and range were specified (Table 3). Thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity were measured using a Decagon KD2 Pro with a single needle TR-1 sensor (10 cm long, 2.5 mm diameter), which uses the transient line heat source method (Decagon Devices Inc. 2016). Volumetric moisture content was measured using a Delta-T Thetaprobe at each stage (Delta-T Devices Ltd. 2017). All apparatus was calibrated in accordance with recommended manufacturer practices.

Measurements were taken before and after saturation, and then at 10-min intervals. This allowed the substrates to be dynamically monitored as moisture content fell due to evaporation. Monitoring continued until the samples fell below an average of 20% volumetric moisture, which was achieved after 580 min for all mixes. Further monitoring below this level would not be useful as plants consume water (Pradhan et al. 2019) and require moisture in the substrate to produce healthy vegetation. Once the experiment was completed, particle size analysis was conducted which involved the different samples being sieved within a range of 16 mm to > 2 mm.

2.3 Data analysis and modelling

Statistical analysis was conducted in MATLAB, which included bivariate and multivariate linear regression modelling to understand the interactions between different variables and thermal conductivity. Statistical significance was determined using a significance level (α) of 0.05. This was compared to a Gaussian Process Regression model to understand whether a non-linear model could better explain the relationships between variables.

3 Results and analysis

3.1 Planting substrate measurement results

The physical properties of the three planting substrates were analysed in both their saturated and unsaturated states (Table 4). In their starting states, physical properties were similar. Once saturated, however, the volumetric moisture content of mix 1 was 19.33% vol higher than that of mix 3 with 30% added biochar. This suggests that the addition of biochar lowers the maximum saturation. The added biochar was associated with reduced mass when saturated, with mix 1 being 73.11 g heavier than mix 3. Meanwhile, thermal conductivity was lowest in biochar mixes 2 and 3. Although mix 2 contained a proportion of biochar between mixes 1 and 3, thermal conductivity at total saturation was the lowest of all three mixes at 0.25 Wm −1 K −1.

Particle size sieve analysis showed that particle sizes were similar amongst all mixes. Mix 1 had a marginally higher proportion of smaller particles (< 4 mm), whereas the other mixes had a marginally higher proportion of particles sized between 4 and 16 mm (Fig. 2), likely reflecting the biochar material added.

3.2 Planting substrate monitoring results

The volumetric moisture content fell fastest for mix 1 but from a higher starting point (Fig. 3). Compared to their saturated state, mix 1 fell by 66.02% vol, mix 2 by 61.03% vol and mix 3 by 46.95% vol. From 220 min onwards, the results converged with the other mixes and volumetric moisture content remained similar for the remainder of the experiment. While measurements in a saturated state indicated that the addition of biochar lowers maximum saturation, it also has greater retention of the moisture.

The mass of the mixes steadily fell throughout the experiment, showing an almost linear relationship with time. Mix 1 began with the highest mass in its saturated state, falling by 31.54% after 580 min. Mixes 2 and 3 fell slightly less, at 28.21% and 28.13%, respectively. Because of the relationship between mass and gravimetric moisture content, this suggests mixes 2 and 3 saw proportionally smaller reductions in gravimetric moisture content, which matches the trend in volumetric moisture content. There was a positive, statistically significant ( p  ≤ 0.05) relationship between mass and volumetric moisture content for all three mixes.

As seen in Fig. 3, with the exception of one data point, mix 1 had the highest thermal conductivity among the three mixes throughout the drying procedure. Of the mixes that contained biochar, thermal conductivity was similar for the first 100 min, before the results diverged. Mix 3 had the lowest thermal conductivity, achieving 0.067 Wm −1 K −1 at the end of the experiment, compared to 0.102 Wm −1 K −1 for mix 2 and 0.129 Wm −1 K −1 for mix 1 with no biochar.

There was a positive, statistically significant ( p ≤ 0.05) correlation between volumetric moisture content and thermal conductivity for all three mixes (Fig. 4). A linear model between volumetric moisture content and thermal conductivity was produced for each mix (Eq. 1). The linear model provided an excellent fit for mix 1 but weakened for mix 2 and mix 3, suggesting a non-linear relationship. Notably, mix 1 and 2 saw similar gradients of 0.0053 and 0.0047, respectively, while mix 3 with higher biochar content saw a steeper gradient of 0.0075. At high volumetric moisture levels, there was almost no differentiation in thermal conductivity, but when moisture content decreased, the thermal conductivity became far lower.

$$\begin{gathered} Mix{ }1:{ }y = 0.0457 + 0.0053x,R^{2} = 92.33{\text{\% , }} \hfill \\ Mix{ 2}:{ }y = 0.0405 + 0.0047x,{ }R^{2} = 74.44{\text{\% , }} \hfill \\ Mix{ 3}:{ }y = - 0.1103 + 0.0075x,{ }R^{2} = 73.26{\text{\% }} \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

Equation 1: Linear regression model results for each mix.

3.3 Statistical modelling

A least-squares multivariate linear regression model predicts thermal conductivity from the independent variables of volumetric moisture content and biochar fraction. The model fit was good (R ² = 85.03%) and each independent variable had a statistically significant effect on thermal conductivity (Table 5). Accuracy was reasonable, with a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 0.0349 Wm −1 K −1. The biochar additions reduced thermal conductivity, while volumetric moisture content increased it.

Table 5 Regression results for multivariate linear regression model of thermal conductivity (*p ≤ 0.05)

To understand whether a non-linear model could better explain the results, the model was compared with a Gaussian Process Regression model. This was associated with an improvement in RMSE to 0.0248 Wm −1 K −1, which indicates that the relationships between biochar fraction, volumetric moisture content and thermal conductivity are better explained by the non-linear model (Fig. 5).

3.4 Application to a living wall system

$$R_{n} = \frac{d}{\lambda },{\kern 1pt} \;R_{total} = R_{si} + R_{1} + \ldots + R_{n} + R_{se}$$

Equation 2: Equation for the R-value of each homogenous component within a wall (\({\varvec{\lambda}}\) thermal conductivity, d thickness, R si internal surface resistance, R se external surface resistance).

To understand the potential impact on the design of LWSs, the data are practically applied to calculate the overall resistance provided by the substrate (Anderson and Kosmina 2019). This treats the LWS as a construction layer, with a typical substrate thickness of 100 mm being assumed (Vijayalaxmi and Gandham 2023).

The data suggest that increasing the biochar fraction and reducing moisture content in the substrate will minimise its thermal conductivity (Fig. 6). The model indicates the 30% biochar mix (mix 3) at 30% volumetric moisture content would achieve a thermal conductivity of 0.12 Wm −1 K −1, and when applied at 100 mm thickness with LWS would provide 0.82 m ² KW −1 of added thermal resistance to a wall (Fig. 7). At the same moisture level, GWC with no biochar (mix 1) would achieve 0.22 m ² KW −1. This indicates that the addition of 30% biochar to the planting substrate would almost halve the thermal conductivity. This data could be used as part of a U-value calculation of a whole wall construction; however, the overall U-value would depend on the thermal properties of the other construction layers and the ventilation of any air spaces within the wall construction.

4 Discussion

The findings show a statistically significant difference in the conductivity between the three planting substrates depending on the biochar fraction and support earlier studies (Usowicz et al. 2016; Lunt et al. 2023), which highlighted biochar's potential insulating properties. The biochar mixes tended to contain larger particle sizes than the GWC only mix, supporting previous research (Ng and Low 2010; Lunt et al. 2023) which found that larger particle sizes increased porosity. Increased porosity reduced thermal conductivity by acting as a barrier to convection currents. Added biochar was associated with greater reductions in thermal conductivity at lower moisture levels, with a relationship between biochar fraction, volumetric moisture content and thermal conductivity.

While only the mix of GWC tended to be more thermally conductive, it also held more water initially. The reduced moisture saturation of biochar mixes contrasts with previous research by Duang and Nguyen ( 2017) suggesting that biochar has greater ability to absorb and hold moisture. However, this may be explained by the higher proportion of larger particle sizes (4-16 mm) in the biochar substrates, which increased the textural coarseness of the substrate, thus lowering the moisture saturation potential of biochar substrates. Once fully saturated at the start of the experiment, the planting substrates with higher biochar content had a lower volumetric moisture content. The lowered saturation potential of biochar substrates translates to lower weight loads representing a significant advantage for the wider application of LWSs, consistent with the lower bulk density of biochar (Acharya et al. 2024). During the period 120-380 min, the moisture content of the biochar substrates did not decrease as steeply as that of the non biochar mix, with all mixes plateauing at around the same level (40-50%). The fact that higher moisture retention was associated with added biochar would significantly support LWSs, by reducing the demand for irrigation and maintenance requirements (Dede et al. 2021), and in moderating soil moisture at levels most suitable for plant performance. The non-linearity may be associated with the hydrophobicity of biochar at higher moisture levels (Adhikari et al. 2022), meaning that the addition of biochar increased water-holding capacity while moisture retention increased at lower levels due to capillary retention.

These findings suggest that biochar as a component of planting substrate may help negate the trade-offs between the moisture and thermal performance of LWSs by moderating the soil environment. Lower moisture might also benefit LWS plants by reducing the risk of waterlogging stress and plant disease (Murphy et al. 2024). However, improvements in substrate moisture moderation could result in a trade-off between insulation in winter and summer cooling: the lowered maximum moisture in planting substrates with higher biochar may provide additional thermal resistance, but it may also lower saturation, potentially reducing LWS transpiration and evaporative cooling from plants in the summer (Cameron et al. 2014). Lower evaporation could reduce the need for irrigation (Bustami et al. 2018), indirectly reducing the operational energy and carbon associated with water use in LWS (RICS 2023). This evidence builds on existing work suggesting that planting substrate cannot be considered on its own but alongside other choices in LWS design and must reflect site context (Dede et al. 2021; Jimenez et al. 2024).

At the end of the monitoring period, the mix with the highest addition of biochar (mix 3) achieved the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.067 Wm −1 K −1 with a mass of 698.3 g and a moisture content of 18.63% vol. This compares favourably with previous studies into the thermal conductivity of different LWSs substrates, which ranged from 0.051 Wm −1 K −1 for a specific LWS substrate made from coconut matting (Libessart and Kenai 2018) to 0.9 Wm −1 K −1 for wet, compacted GWC (Lunt et al. 2023).

Even after optimisation of the biochar fraction and moisture content, thermal conductivity was not comparable to modern insulation materials available for buildings. Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and glass wool have thermal conductivities of 0.037 Wm −1 K −1 and 0.051 Wm −1 K −1 respectively (Yuan 2018), both of which are much lower than that of the substrate with 30% biochar at 30% volumetric moisture content's thermal conductivity of 0.12 Wm −1 K −1. However, this may be acceptable given that LWSs support other benefits that are desirable to building owners and users (Manso et al. 2021). Where necessary to meet regulatory requirements such as Part L1 and Part L2 of the Approved Documents guidance in the UK for walls upgraded with external insulation (HM Government 2024), LWSs could also be combined with other insulation materials to reduce their thickness.

5 Conclusions and perspectives

This paper assessed the influence of biochar addition on the thermal and moisture performance of three planting substrates, finding that additions of biochar cause non-linear reductions in thermal conductivity at lower moisture levels. Increased biochar could therefore serve as an extremely useful product for reducing the thermal transmittance of walls and the energy use of buildings fitted with LWSs. Biochar was shown to increase the moisture retention of planting substrate but was also associated with lower maximum saturation. Biochar could provide both direct energy performance benefits from added thermal resistance and indirect benefits from lower water requirements and improved plant performance. However, lower moisture content could be undesirable where LWSs are used for cooling due to lower transpiration and evaporative cooling, with trade-offs between reduced thermal conductivity and cooling efficiency.

The methodology provides clear evidence on the beneficial role of biochar for the thermal and hydrological characteristics of growth substrates for use in LWS. There are however areas which warrant further study, namely how the elevated emissivity of biochar may impact LWS evaporation, and how biochar additions to growing substrate might influence plant performance and the aerial and substrate thermal performance of LWS. Additionally, the long-term fate and thermal functionality of biochar in LWS requires further investigation given its promotion of microbial colonisation. This study focused on one type of biochar, further work should assess the thermal performance and LWS applicability of different types of biochar. Furthermore, future research could provide in situ data on the influence of biochar on LWS performance using a live case study and heat flux monitoring (Anderson and Kosmina 2019), to fully explore how biochar might be best used in the design, installation and maintenance of LWSs. This study also focussed on bare soil, with investigation needed on how biochar additions interact with different plant species given that biochar has been found to influence seed germination, plant growth and root development. Further work could also look beyond thermal and moisture performance, such as investigating and optimising the cost of biochar-enhanced LWSs.

The paper builds on previous work (Fox et al. 2022) to provide evidence on how the properties of different planting substrates used in LWSs affect thermal and moisture performance (Usowicz et al. 2016; Libessart and Kenai 2018; Lunt et al. 2023). The use of biochar in LWSs offers significant opportunity for improving thermal performance and lowering energy usage. The study focused on LWSs, the results are relevant to other forms of green infrastructure that include a planting substrate such as intensive green roofs.

Data availability

All data are currently available upon request and will be made available from the Plymouth Electronic Archive and Research Library (PEARL).

Abbreviations

GWC:

Green waste compost

LWS:

Living wall system

PM:

Particulate matter

VOC:

Volatile organic compound

RMSE:

Root mean squared error

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Terry Trim and Carolyn Dare from Trimplants Wholesale Nursery and Blackdown Hills Eco Hub in Combe Raleigh, Devon, who donated green waste compost and biochar to support this research. Thanks to Richard Hartley SoGEES technical team for support in soils laboratories and to Dr Demelza Carne SoBMS for facilitating access to soil mixing facilities.

Funding

The authors received funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as part of the Good Growth Entrepreneurial Futures project. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The authors also received funding from the Co-designing CobBauge Futures project (RR206058) by the IAA AHRC Future Observatory fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

Josh Batterham, João Alencastro, Jack Morewood & Steve Goodhew

2. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

Thomas Murphy

Contributions

Josh Batterham, João Alencastro and Thomas Murphy contributed to the study conception and design. Jack Morewood and Steve Goodhew contributed to the literature review. Material preparation and data collection was performed by Josh Batterham and Thomas Murphy. Data analysis and visualisation was performed by Josh Batterham, Jack Morewood and Thomas Murphy. All authors contributed to the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack Morewood.

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Batterham, J., Alencastro, J., Murphy, T. et al. Biochar to improve the thermal performance of living wall systems: laboratory assessment of three planting substrates. Biochar 8, 10 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-025-00508-5
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Biochar to improve the thermal performance of living wall systems: laboratory assessment of three planting substrates - Biochar

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Living wall systems (LWSs) help to alleviate the climate and biodiversity harms associated with buildings and bring benefits to building occupants. Their performance can be variable and existing research points to the planting substrate as a key design factor.

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~The New DImension In Renewable Energy~ “We believe waste isn’t the end of the story — it’s the beginning of transformation.”

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Registry for high quality carbon removals

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Puro Registry is the world's first registry for engineered carbon sequestration projects where all new issuances and retirements can be viewed.

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55 Uses of Biochar [Updated to 60] including Agriculture | Biochar

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Biochar, a versatile material with 60 different uses. This article builds on an article '55 uses of biochar', published in 2014

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Merlin Sheldrake - How Fungi Make our Worlds

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Again we have seen a positive of biochar on the root system of radishes. We have photo evidence from our experiment.

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Puro.earth122 w•Open for Climate Dialogue™

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Puro.earth facilitated the purchase of CORCs from Swedish biochar producer Biokol, by outdoor wear manufacturer Haglöfs to assist with the company’s 2030 net zero target 🌎♥ Watch 👁‍🗨 this video to hear about the carbon removal journey from both buyer

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Read the full post on We Don’t Have Time | Together we are the solution to the climate crisis

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Farmers And Environmentalists Alike Are Excited About Biochar

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Farmers And Environmentalists Alike Are Excited About Biochar

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Segment Transcript

IRA FLATOW: This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flatow. And now it's time to check in on the state of science.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SPEAKER 1: This is-

SPEAKER 2: For WWNO.

SPEAKER 3: Saint Louis Public Radio.

SPEAKER 4: Iowa Public Radio News.

IRA FLATOW: Local science stories of national significance- on this program, we are always on the lookout for climate change solutions. And we found one way up in Maine, where some entrepreneurs are banking on biochar. This is a charcoal-like substance. It's been used for centuries to enhance soil. And recently, it's gained appreciation for its carbon capturing properties.

Joining me to talk about biochar is Murray carpenter, Science Journalist based in Belfast, Maine. He reported this story from Maine Public Radio. Welcome back to Science Friday, Murray.

MURRAY CARPENTER: Thanks, Ira. Glad to be here.

IRA FLATOW: All right. So tell me how you make biochar. What is it?

MURRAY CARPENTER: Well basically, I visited this plant where they're making biochar up in Maine's North Woods in Greenville near Moosehead Lake. And what they do is they take woodchips, like low-value wood products that might be left over from lumber production or the tops and limbs from pulpwood production. And it goes into a hopper, and then it goes into an oven. And it's burned at very high temperatures, like up to 2,000 Fahrenheit and low oxygen conditions. This is called pyrolysis. And so the woodchips go in at one end.

And Pat Jones, President of Clean Maine Carbon- he described it to me this way.

PAT JONES: It starts out as wood, and as you could see when we come over here, you can see what comes out the other end is biochar, which is very high carbon, very porous, very good for agriculture. And so we turn nice white woodchips into black carbon.

IRA FLATOW: And then what do you do with it?

MURRAY CARPENTER: Well, that's the interesting thing. Biochar seems to have some pretty good agricultural properties. It's inert, and it's stable. I mean, scientists call it recalcitrant. So basically, it wants to stay in its carbon form for a long time. But increasingly, people in Maine are looking at it as an agricultural amendment.

IRA FLATOW: So it stores the CO2 that was in the logs or the woodchips. And so a lot of it's not released back into the atmosphere.

MURRAY CARPENTER: Yeah. You're basically pulling this carbon out of the carbon cycle for some period. It may be decades, it may be centuries. But you're pulling it out of the carbon cycle for a long time. It's not immediately going up into CO2, or at least less of it is. Of course, there's some CO2 generated in burning and some in transportation.

Yeah, increasingly people are hoping it will be used as an agricultural amendment. And I talked to Jonathan Foley. He's the director of Project Drawdown. And they're looking at science-based climate solutions. And he basically thought that biochar- it's not a silver bullet as a climate solution, but it's sort of a piece of silver buckshot.

JONATHAN FOLEY: And we can put that in farm fields. We can bury it in old mines. We can bury it in the ground, and it should last for hundreds if not thousands of years under the right circumstances. So it's a pretty clever kind of hybrid between nature and some engineering that might be a pretty good little piece of silver buckshot.

IRA FLATOW: That's really cool. As I said, biochar has been around for a long time, just not necessarily known as biochar. I mean, it's long been used in Indigenous communities to fertilize the ground for planting, right? What are the benefits for the soil?

MURRAY CARPENTER: Yeah. The benefits are that, although it's inert, it retains water and it retains nutrients. So here in Maine, they're looking at it for particularly in three different areas, in the blueberry barrens Down East and in potato fields up north, and also as possible remediation for some pollutants.

And so in the blueberry barrens, we're increasingly seeing, these are sandy soils. And we're increasingly seeing flashy, heavy rains when they come and then long, droughty periods in between. If you have something that has better water retention, it can improve those agricultural soils. And so the other very intriguing area is the idea of remediating problems from pollutants, such as PFAS. It appears that biochar may bind up pollutants in the soil and make it harder for plants to take up those pollutants into crops.

So there are a number of intriguing areas of research. But basically, it's really around this idea that it retains moisture and it retains nutrients.

IRA FLATOW: Yeah, well, we know how important blueberries are in Maine, right? So it could be an important useful item for them. But let's look at the grand scheme of things. How much of a dent could biochar put on our carbon capturing goals?

MURRAY CARPENTER: Well, I think it's never going to be a huge dent. Let's say that. We know it can- I mean, it's definitely locking up, sequestering some carbon. It's hard to say how much. A place I visited in Greenville is producing about 1,200 tons a year. Another plant that's coming online soon hopes to produce about the same amount. It's a small climate solution. It's definitely sequestering some carbon. And it definitely has some agricultural benefits. So people are pretty excited about this.

IRA FLATOW: And they should be because every little bit helps in this climate crisis we're in, right Murray?

MURRAY CARPENTER: Every little bit helps, and this is just one more little bit for sure.

IRA FLATOW: Thank you, Murray.

MURRAY CARPENTER: Thank you, Ira.

IRA FLATOW: Murray Carpenter, Science Journalist based in Belfast, Maine. He reported this story from Maine Public Radio.

Copyright © 2023 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of Science Friday's programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/

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Farmers And Environmentalists Alike Are Excited About Biochar

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This charcoal-like substance packs carbon into a stable form, making it less likely to escape into the atmosphere.

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Spreading biochar, spring 2019 Hjelmsäter Sweden

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The Impact of Pyrolysis Temperature on Pine Wood Biochar Properties

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A study on pine wood biochar reveals that higher pyrolysis temperatures enhance carbon content, surface area, and porosity while reducing yield. These changes improve adsorption properties, making …

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Now roots play some key roles in the life of plants they; anchor plants in the soil, are the engine for plant growth, provide access to water and nutrients, as well as storing energy and carbon ...so what effect does biochar have on tomato root systems?

Observations from our Tomato Trial

As our tomato growing experiment came to an end we extracted the roots from the beds to see if the improvements we had seen above ground were somehow repeated underground. To our pleasant surprise, there were major differences. The roots of the biochar grown plants were substantially bulkier than the controls.

Looking more closely we noticed that what appeared to be biochar particles adhered to the root system.

We think it's a thing of beauty and weren't expecting such striking images.

The roots form quite a tangle but we could see examples where the root is growing directly into the particles of biochar.

We are not the first to see this. Lehmann and others have published photos showing roots interacting with biochar particles, see References below.

The Test - Are these particles Biochar?

The root system is decorated with particles, black particles. At first glance they look like the biochar we had incorporated into the compost used in our growing beds. To be sure we tested a section by crushing some of the particles under a small screwdriver blade ca 2mm width. The clear give-away for char is that it crushes with, often, a small "crack" before breaking into a pile of fine particles or dust - a brittle failure.

Among the pieces of char we did find some fragments, black on the outside brown and wood-like on the inside. These particles did not show the brittle failure of biochar but rather a plastic deformation under the pressure of the blade. The soil we used in the trial was created from garden compost sieved to 12.5 mm to remove larger material such as pieces of wood and stones. Woody fragments smaller than this were still present in our growing media.

Reflection - Root Systems Love Char

These tomato plant roots have formed an extensive network decorated with biochar and some woody fragments. Both biochar and these wood fragments are clearly not phyto-toxic. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that these "roots love biochar". Reference 1 below includes the comment: "Our results indicate that roots are attracted towards biochar, resulting in its (N & P*) partitioning between bulk and rhizosphere soil. Biochar thus controls plant root nutrient acquisition directly as a nutrient source and indirectly by altering soil nutrient content." Their reference* in the quote above is to nitrogen and phosporous.

It is difficult to draw too much from this small scale experiment but it deserves follow up in later trials.

References

Biochar-root interactions are mediated by biochar nutrient content and impacts on soil nutrient availability
M. T. Prendergast‐Miller M. Duvall S. P. Sohi
First published: 04 September 2013

"Our results indicate that roots are attracted towards biochar, resulting in its partitioning between bulk and rhizosphere soil. Biochar thus controls plant root nutrient acquisition directly as a nutrient source and indirectly by altering soil nutrient content."

Rapid electron transfer by the carbon matrix in natural pyrogenic carbon
Tianran Sun, Barnaby D. A. Levin, Juan J. L. Guzman, Akio Enders, David A. Muller,
Largus T. Angenent & Johannes Lehmann
Nature Communications volume 8, Article number: 14873 (2017)

Researchers discover high-def electron pathways in soil
by Cornell University
April 3, 2017

Contains a photo showing roots interacting with a biochar particle.

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The Effect of Biochar on Root Systems - Roots Love Char | Biochar

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The effect of biochar on root systems is strong, as roots love biochar. See photo evidence of roots decorated with char from our experiment

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55 Uses of Biochar [Updated to 60] including Agriculture | Biochar

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Biochar, a versatile material with 60 different uses. This article builds on an article '55 uses of biochar', published in 2014

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Carl Zimmer for Conservation Magazine, part of the Guardian Environment Network

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How biochar production could help climate change fight

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Cornell University’s Johannes Lehmann thinks biochar - using organic matter to bury carbon dioxide in the ground - could be a large scale way to tackle global warming

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A review on the NOx precursors release during biomass pyrolysis

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A review on the NOx precursors release during biomass pyrolysis

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Cheap electricity from wood? Homemade power plant + bio char and fertilizer🤯 off grid gas producer

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Albert Bates on biochar, forest permaculture and climate change

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Assessing biochar's permanence: An inertinite benchmark

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Assessing biochar's permanence: An inertinite benchmark

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preliminary comparison of regenerative

and conventional farming

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Biochar incorporation into soil is an important route for CO2 removal from the atmosphere by terrestrial carbon sequestration (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; 2018)

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Scientists, growers, foresters, greenkeepers and gardeners alike are still learning about the benefits and drawbacks of biochars. The name "biochar" covers a wide range of materials with different properties. Many useful properties of biochar are owed to their physical structure.

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Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that's made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (also called biomass) in a controlled process called . Although it looks a lot like common charcoal, biochar is produced using a specific process to reduce contamination and safely store carbon. During pyrolysis organic materials, such as wood chips, leaf litter or dead plants, are burned in a container with very little oxygen. As the materials burn, they release little to no contaminating fumes. During the pyrolysis process, the organic material is converted into biochar, a stable form of carbon that can't easily escape into the atmosphere. The energy or heat created during pyrolysis can be captured and used as a form of clean energy. Biochar is by far more efficient at converting carbon into a stable form and is cleaner than other forms of charcoal.

In terms of physical attributes , biochar is black, highly porous, lightweight, fine-grained and has a large surface area. Approximately 70 percent of its composition is carbon. The remaining percentage consists of nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen among other elements. Biochar's chemical composition varies depending on the feedstocks used to make it and methods used to heat it.
The concept of biochar is rooted in an ancient Amazonian practice
Although biochar technology is considered a more recent strategy for carbon sequestration, the practice of adding charred biomass to improve soil quality is not new. This process is modeled after a 2,000-year-old practice in the Amazonian basin, where indigenous people created areas of rich, fertile soils called terra preta (meaning "dark earth").

Whether these soils were intentionally made or are simply a by-product of farming and/or cooking practices is still . But one thing's for sure: The fertility of terra preta is significantly higher than the otherwise famously infertile soils of the Amazon. This explains why plants grown in terra preta soil grow faster, and are more nutrient-dense, than plants grown in neighboring soils. In fact, terra preta soils continue to hold carbon still today.
How to make biochar: A closer look into biochar production
The quality of feedstocks, or materials burned, have a direct impact on the quality of the final biochar product. Ideally, clean feedstocks with 10 to 20 percent moisture and high lignin content must be used-some good examples are field residues and woody biomass. Using contaminated feedstocks, including feedstocks from railway embankments or contaminated land, can introduce toxins into the soil, drastically increase soil pH and/or inhibit plants from absorbing minerals. The most common contaminants are heavy metals-including cadmium, copper, chromium, lead, zinc, mercury, nickel and arsenic-and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

Biochar can be manufactured through low-cost, small-scale production using modified stoves or kilns, or through large-scale, cost-intensive production, which utilizes larger plants and higher amounts of feedstocks. One of the most common ways to make biochar for on-farm use is through pyrolysis using a top-lit updraft biochar machine .
Applications of biochar in agriculture: enhancing soil and compost properties
Soil degradation is a major concern in agriculture globally. To address this burgeoning problem, researchers suggested applying biochar to degraded soils in order to enhance its quality. Some of the ways that biochar may help improve soil quality include:

enhancing soil structure

increasing water retention and aggregation

decreasing acidity

reducing nitrous oxide emissions

improving porosity

regulating nitrogen leaching

improving electrical conductivity

improving microbial properties

Biochar is also found to be beneficial for composting, since it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and prevents the loss of nutrients in the compost material. It also promotes microbial activity, which in turn accelerates the composting process. Plus, it helps the compost's ammonia losses, bulk density and odor.
How to use biochar to improve soil quality
Biochar is applied to agricultural soils using a variety of application rates and preparation techniques. The rate of application and preparation of the biochar will largely depend on specific soil conditions as well as on the materials used to make the biochar. It is often recommended to mix biochar with compost or other materials to inoculate it with nutrients and beneficial organisms.

The recommended method for applying biochar will vary depending on how healthy or nutrient-depleted your soil is. Before you use biochar in your own garden or farm, you should first consider the state of your soil. For more information on how to apply biochar on different kinds of soils, check the guidelines on International Biochar Initiative and Wakefield Biochar .
Biochar: an environmental solution
Biochar may seem like a simple material, but it can help solve a variety of global problems simultaneously. For instance, the process by which it's manufactured may help sequester a billion tons of carbon annually and hold it in the soil for thousands of years, where it's most beneficial.

Some of the other environmental benefits of biochar include decreased groundwater pollution, lower cost of water filtration, reduced amounts of waste and higher profitability for farmers. This technology also contributes to food security by increasing crop yields and retaining water in areas prone to drought.
The role of biochar in sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change Click here to subscribe to Regeneration International's newsletter.

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What is Biochar? - Regeneration International

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Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that's made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (also called biomass) in a controlled process called . Although it looks a lot like common charcoal, biochar is produced using a specific process to reduce contamination and safely store carbon.

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Abstract

Due to the synergistic effects of biochar and compost/composting, the combined application of biochar and compost (biochar-compost) has been recognized as a highly promising and efficient method of soil improvement. However, the willingness to apply biochar-compost for soil improvement is still low compared to the use of biochar or compost alone. This paper collects data on the application of biochar-compost in several problem soils that are well-known and extensively investigated by agronomists and scientists, and summarizes the effects of biochar-compost application in common problem soils. These typical problem soils are classified based on three different characteristics: , abiotic stresses, and contaminants. The improvement effect of biochar-compost in different soils is assessed and directions for further research and suggestions for application are made. Generally, biochar-compost mitigates the high mineralization rate of , phosphorus deficiency and aluminum toxicity, and significantly improves crop yields in most . Biochar-compost has shown positive performance in the remediation of both dry and or high climatic zones soil organic matter tropical soils. Biochar-compost can help to achieve long-term sustainable management of temperate agricultural soils by sequestering carbon and improving saline soils by reducing the threat of soil water scarcity salinity and improving the consequent deterioration of soil conditions. By combining different mechanisms of biochar and compost to immobilize or remove contaminants, biochar-compost tends to perform better than biochar or compost alone in soils contaminated with heavy metals (HMs) or organic pollutants (OPs). This review aims to improve the practicality and acceptability of biochar-compost and to promote its application in soil. Additionally, the prospects, challenges and future directions for the application of biochar-compost in problem soil improvement were foreseen. soil physicochemical properties

Introduction

Soil health is essential for maintaining crop production, environmental quality, and animal health (Doran and Zeiss, 2000). However, as the proportion of problem soils grows around the world, there is a growing awareness of the pressing need to find a suitable management strategy to improve problem soils (Hou et al., 2020; Mukhopadhyay et al., 2021). Problem soils are commonly defined broadly as "soils with undesirable physical, chemical, and biological properties that inhibit or prevent plant growth", such as contaminated soils or poor soils (Yu et al., 2019). Organic soil amendments like biochar and compost are widely suggested for the improvement of problematic soil due to their environmental friendliness, efficiency, and economic viability (Karim et al., 2022; Qin et al., 2022a; Qin et al., 2022b). The strategic addition of biochar and compost to problem soils has great potential to improve the quality of problem soils. Both biochar and compost are effective in alleviating the constraints of problem soils on plant growth or crop production, such as water scarcity, compaction, low fertility, and pollutant toxicity (Natasha et al., 2022).

In the last decade, it has been noticed that mixtures of biochar and compost can be applied to soils with excellent amelioration efficiency. Kammann et al. reported that the biomass yield of poor soils was dramatically raised by 305 % after applying co-composted biochar (2 %, w/w), but the biomass yield was decreased after applying original biochar (Kammann et al., 2015). Jien et al. suggested that compost and biochar together were more effective in stabilizing and sequestering carbon than biochar alone (Jien et al., 2015). Meanwhile, the interaction between biochar and compost in combined applications has received growing attention (Antonangelo et al., 2021; Wu et al., 2017a). Biochar can extend the residence time of compost in the soil, and compost can solve the problem of insufficient nutrients provided by biochar (Elias et al., 2020; Jien et al., 2018). Composting improvement with biochar ultimately contributes to compost quality, including nutritional value, safety, and stability (Sanchez-Monedero et al., 2018). The biochar exhibits modifications after the co-composting process, such as surface functional groups, nutritional content, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and the amount of inhibitory aromatic compounds (Antonangelo et al., 2021). These changes have the potential to increase the efficiency of biochar and compost in soil improvement. For example, the increased nutrients and organic matter (OM) in biochar and compost may favor improved soil quality and microbial growth, which may benefit plant growth. The increased CEC of biochar and compost may be beneficial for improving nutrient retention capacity. An increase in the amount of functional groups in biochar and the number of microorganisms in compost may favor their ability to absorb pollutants (Wu et al., 2017a). Given these, biochar-compost has been considered as a potentially more effective soil amendment than biochar or compost.

Due to a lack of awareness and publicity about the effectiveness of biochar-compost on various problem soils, the willingness to utilize biochar-compost for soil improvement is still low compared to biochar or compost alone (Antonangelo et al., 2021). The application data in various problem soils are important for the practical application of biochar-compost, such as application rates, material ratios, etc. In addition, soil problems may be caused by the long-term effects of climate and biology (plants, animals and microorganisms) on the soil, as well as by human activities (Patil et al., 2020). Thus, soil problems in actual problem soils are often complex and diverse. For instance, HM-polluted soils usually exhibit low nutrient efficacy, limited microbial enzyme activity, and poor soil structure in addition to high amounts of HMs (Ussiri and Lal, 2005). Despite a rudimentary understanding of some of the advantages of applying biochar-compost, it is still unclear how biochar-compost treatments address different soil issues. The practical application of biochar-compost is severely hampered by this, and people would prefer to stick with the previous simple biochar or compost methods rather than combining the two.

To fill this gap, this paper focuses on the mechanisms of biochar-compost interaction with various typical problem soils and the effects of application. Several problem soils that have been well-known and extensively studied by agronomists and scientists and may have one or more soil problems were chosen as representatives for this review's examination. Due to the diversity of soil problems and the absence of a clear definition of problem soils, the problem soils investigated in this study will be categorized and discussed according to three specific characteristics: (i) climatic zones; (ii) abiotic stresses; and (iii) contaminants. The purpose of this is to reflect the ability of biochar-compost to solve soil problems in a convenient and more visual way. In contrast to other articles that also focus on biochar-compost applications, this study highlights the potential of biochar-compost to solve or alleviate multiple soil problems. Investigating how biochar-compost affects the physiochemical properties and microbiological diversity of various problem soils to potentially achieve higher efficiency than treatment alone helps to increase the willingness to employ biochar-compost to improve soils. Besides, this work briefly reviews the effects of biochar and compost alone, the synergistic mechanisms of biochar and compost/composting, and the contemporary combined methods of biochar-compost. Finally, future research needs related to biochar-compost and soil improvement were identified to ensure the widespread use of biochar-compost.

Section snippets

Effects on soil properties

Owing to the special characteristics of biochar, the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil will be affected to some extent after biochar application (Fig. 1a). For instance, it has been demonstrated that biochar can reduce soil bulk density and increase soil porosity (Omondi et al., 2016). The porous structure also allows biochar to effectively improve the water holding capacity (WHC) of the soil and retain more water. Biochar treatment can increase soil aggregate capacity and

Effects on soil properties

As a soil amendment widely used worldwide, compost can improve the physical and chemical properties of soil and enhance soil quality. For instance, adding compost rich in OM can markedly decrease soil bulk density. At 0-15 cm depth, the lowest bulk density (1.12 mg cm −3) was obtained with compost application, while the application of mineral fertilizer did not affect soil bulk density (Celik et al., 2010). Curtis and co-workers observed a 19-21 % reduction in bulk density after the compost is

Combined application of biochar and compost on soil

Biochar and compost have shown their unique potential as soil amendments, and more studies have been conducted to combine the two materials in the hope of obtaining higher improved efficiency (Table 3). Currently, there are three common methods of producing and applying biochar in combination with compost to soil: (i) Immediate application of the material to the soil after mixing biochar and compost (final product), without incubation (B + C); (ii) Composting of biochar with biomass (e.g. rice

Biochar-compost amendment improves various problem soils

The potential of applying biochar or compost alone for soil improvement has been demonstrated in many studies, but the combined application of two materials promises to create even greater value for soil improvement. This section collects data on the application of biochar-compost in several problem soils that are well-known and widely studied by agronomists and scientists to reflect the potential of combined applications. In addition, it is worth emphasizing that the typical soils discussed in

Conclusion and outlook

The synergistic effect between biochar and compost/composting has the potential to improve the efficiency of soil improvement, and biochar-compost has been proposed as an alternative to separate applications. This review evaluates the effectiveness of biochar-compost in several problem soils, intending to promote the practical application of biochar-compost. These effect summaries are important for the subsequent assessment of the applicability of biochar-compost in problem soils.

For problem

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Shixian Qian: Writing - original draft, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis. Xuerong Zhou: Methodology, Investigation, Writing - review & editing. Yukui Fu: Methodology, Writing - review & editing. Biao Song: Methodology, Writing - review & editing. Huchuan Yan: Validation, Writing - review & editing. Zhexin Chen: Writing - review & editing. Qian Sun: Writing - review & editing. Haoyang Ye: Validation, Writing - review & editing. Lei Qin: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing,

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Program for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52100183, 52170161, 52100180), the Hunan Natural Science Foundation (2020JJ3009), Hunan Researcher Award Program (2020RC3025), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (531118010473).

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Biochar-compost as a new option for soil improvement: Application in various problem soils

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Due to the synergistic effects of biochar and compost/composting, the combined application of biochar and compost (biochar-compost) has been recognize...

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Abstract

Biochar is charcoal produced from feedstock under pyrolysis. It has gained interests among researchers in recent years because of its agronomic and environmental benefits. It is considered to increase soil fertility and crop productivity, and biochar might play an important role as a climate mitigation tool that is able to capture carbon in the soil.

However, although research has focused on the chemical, biological, and technical aspects of biochar, we seem to be far away from the implementation of a functioning biochar system. One key aspect needed for the actual use of biochar technologies is increased awareness and emphasis on the social and organizational aspects of its implementation. As there are no functional markets for the services and products needed to 'produce' a biochar system, political and market devices are needed. This paper contributes to this debate by introducing a socio-technical framework that investigates the implementation of different biochar technologies in Norway. Based on this socio-technical system framework, we discuss necessary components of a sustainable biochar socio-technical system, and we outline variations of this system based on different levels of biochar production scaling.

Introduction

By storing biochar in the soil, one can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase soil quality. Consequently, it has gained widespread interest among researchers. Yet, it is not widely implemented. Our argument in this article is that the lack of implemented, or functioning, biochar systems is partly due to the fact that research and policy analyses are narrowly focused on technical considerations and omit social and organizational elements of a biochar system. We contribute to the field of research by introducing and moderating a socio-technical system framework that is able to investigate the potential and practical implementation of different types of biochar systems.

Biochar is a form of char produced under pyrolysis, which is a thermochemical conversion of biomass that is carried out at temperatures above 300 C without oxygen. Pyrolysis produces three different products: bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the chemical processes of pyrolysis in detail, but in general we can state that slow and intermediate pyrolysis results in higher biochar yields, while fast pyrolysis provides higher liquid yields (e.g., bio-oil) [24]. Biochar can be produced from a variety of feedstocks such as agricultural crop residues, forestry residues, wood waste, organic portion of municipal solid waste (MSW), and animal manures [24], while the type of feedstock and the pyrolysis conditions mainly define the quality of the biochar and thus its stability for sequestering carbon [36].

The use of biochar as a soil amendment is not a new idea. Its beginning can be traced back to the Amazon where indigenous people amended their soils with biochar approximately 2000 years ago due to its positive impacts on soil quality and crop yields (Lehmann et al., 2004 in Galinato et al. [31]:6344). In recent years, biochar has experienced a new wave of interest. A search on Web of Science shows that the amount of articles that included the word 'biochar' in their titles has increased from 455 published articles in 2013 to 1260 in 2016. Biochar has gained great interest among researchers in recent years because of its perceived agronomic and environmental benefits. Maraseni et al. ([50]:852) list 8 benefits of biochar on soils. (1) It reduces leaching of soil nutrients, (2) it enhances nutrient availability for plants, (3) it increases water quality of runoff, (4) it reduces dependency on artificial fertilizers, (5) it reduces toxicity of aluminum to plant roots and microbiota, (6) it increases soil structure and pH and therefore reduces the need for lime, (7) it reduces bioavailability of heavy metals, and (8) it reduces GHG emissions by decreasing N ₂O and CH ₄ emissions from soils. Thus, biochar becomes very interesting for development agencies that are particularly interested in biochar applications for unfertile lands in developing countries to increase crop production. In this context, the production of biochar can lead to increased food production and higher incomes and hence presents a suitable tool for poverty alleviation.

Biochar might also play an important role as a climate mitigation tool by capturing carbon in the soil. A reduction of emissions alone is not seen as sufficient for reducing the CO ₂ values from the atmosphere, and methods of extracting CO ₂ from the atmosphere in form of carbon capture are suggested [33]. Biochar becomes relevant in this context since it can be stored in the soil and has a high residence of sequestering carbon from 100s to 1000s of years [24]. However, the duration depends on several parameters such as (1) the temperature during pyrolysis (biochar production with lower temperatures leads to higher residence time), (2) the feedstock material, (3) the degree to which the material is charred, (4) the surface volume ratio of the particles, and (5) the conditions of the soil where biochar is added ([50]:853).

Due to its multiple benefits and potential as a climate mitigation tool, researchers work with biochar all around the world. This interest in biochar is also reflected in the formation of the International Biochar Initiative (IBI) in 2006, a platform that aims to "promote good industry practices, stakeholder collaboration, and environmental and ethical standards to foster economically viable biochar systems that are safe and effective for use in soil fertility and as a climate mitigation tool" [38]. Biochar production has been carried out at different levels varying from pyrolysis units designed at a household level to large-scale commercial production [42]. There have been several successful field trials of biochar production as well [7].

Section snippets

Limited implementation of biochar

Despite its remarkable potential, biochar is not yet widely implemented. According to the IBI [39], lack of awareness about the benefits of biochar among diverse stakeholders presents a major constraint to its adoption and use. Bjerregaard [10] found out that only 5% of Danish farmers had heard of biochar. Current research has a strong technical focus that mainly investigates the chemical processes of biochar, for example, studying the long-term stability of biochar in soils and identifying

Biochar adoption in the lens of socio-technical system theory

Our point of departure is that the successful implementation of biochar systems neither depends solely on economic factors nor the technical features of the chosen processes; in addition, socio-cultural and political factors need to be addressed. One way to address the wide range of relevant factors is through a socio-technical system framework. Based on a socio-technical system framework, we will discuss the necessary components of a sustainable biochar implementation, and we will outline

Methods, data, and limitations

This study is based on a mixed method approach. It departs with a literature review on research on the implementation of socio-technical systems in general and biochar systems in particular. We have also had a particular view on Norwegian literature of relevance to the implementation of biochar technologies. The general literature review was undertaken in English with 'Scopus' as major search engine. We decided to use Scopus because it is one of the most effective academic search engines for

Scales of biochar systems and their system components

A series of biochar technologies are available. One central feature is that such technologies are scalable at different levels of centralization. We depart from a continuum where we have small-scale, decentralized biochar systems at the one end and large-scale, centralized, industrial biochar systems at the other end. Still, there is room for cooperation between farmers on different parts of the value chain, where we imagine a medium-scale production of biochar (see Fig. 1). We assume that for

Conclusion

At this point, we have presented the three different scales of biochar systems and the values of all six components for each system based on a literature review supplemented with quantitative and qualitative data. We can see that the situation is complex, and the implementation of biochar systems requires a thorough analysis of relevant social and organizational factors that not only address the physical technology and economic benefits.

The aim of this article was to investigate non-technical

Acknowledgement

This work was part of a larger research project "Capture+: Sustainable Biochar systems for a zero emission society", financed by the Norwegian Research Council. The authors would like to thank Jostein Brobakk and Alexander Krogsrud-Thanem for assisting in the survey design and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We would also like to thank the Norwegian farmers who took part in this study.

Pia Piroschka Otte is a senior researcher at the Centre for Rural Research in Trondheim. She worked previously as Postdoctoral Research Fellow and coordinator within the Graduate Program "Urban Infrastructures in Transition: The Case of African Cities" at TU Darmstadt, and obtained a PhD in Political Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Norske bønders syn på klimaendringer og klimatilpasning

Norske bønder og globale klimaendringer. En kvantitativ analyse av bønders oppfatninger av hvordan deres egne gårdsbruk vil bli påvirket av klimaendringer

The potential role of biochar in comabting climate change in Scotland: an analysis of feedstocks, life cycle assessment and spatial dimensions

Diversification and the entrepreneurial motivations of farmers in Norway

The roles of risk and ambiguity in technology adoption

Biochar info
Small Scale Biochar Production Methods

P. Bjerregaard
The Social Shaping of Technology - a Case Study of Biochar in Denmark

Biochar: Assessing the Promise and Risks to Guide U.S. Policy

Understanding farmers' aesthetic preference for tidy agricultural landscapes: a bourdieusian perspective

Exploring farmers' cultural resistance to voluntary agri-environmental schemes

Pia Piroschka Otte is a senior researcher at the Centre for Rural Research in Trondheim. She worked previously as Postdoctoral Research Fellow and coordinator within the Graduate Program "Urban Infrastructures in Transition: The Case of African Cities" at TU Darmstadt, and obtained a PhD in Political Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Jostein Vik received a doctoral degree (dr.polit) in political science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He is a senior researcher at the Centre for Rural Research (CRR), which he joined in 2005. Current research interests include several aspects of governance and power in a rural context, as well as rural entrepreneurship and agricultural diversification.

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Biochar systems: Developing a socio-technical system framework for biochar production in Norway

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Biochar is charcoal produced from feedstock under pyrolysis. It has gained interests among researchers in recent years because of its agronomic and en...

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Planting Urban Trees With Biochar - Stockholm

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Planting Urban Trees With Biochar - Stockholm

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Biochar use in planting urban trees_1461183230486

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Make carbon sink, not rise. Most of the world's toilets are not connected to sewers but drain into septic systems or cesspools. With new smart biochar based septic designs, this human derived waste carbon could become long term carbon sinks. Refashioning our subsoil waste disposal into safe systems of carbon sequestration could open up vast new opportunities for the circular urban economy and climate action.

The need to find large reservoirs for carbon storage is heating up exponentially. While some Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies are targeting deep crevices into which CO ₂ can be injected, biochar has historically focused on additions just below our feet, particularly in carbon-depleted or contaminated agricultural soils. Few that deeply understand biochar would argue against its use on farms, though more than a few argue against its use anywhere else! However, getting farmers to adopt new practices is notoriously challenging and slow, even when the value proposition looks favorable.

The stark climate reality is that we do not have the luxury of time on our side to solely focus on persuading vast numbers of farmers to bury carbon. The biochar industry has spent more than a decade focusing on farmers and has barely put a dent in that market. This is not to say we should give up on it. It is obvious that we cannot and should not. But if biochar is to have a material impact on climate change in the short time frame that is necessary, vast new sinks must be identified quickly.

Image 1: Scheme of a conventional sanitary sewer pipe trench.

Fortunately, there are a growing number of not only safe but beneficial sinks that could provide enormous sequestration opportunities. [Albert Bates and I explore many of these in BURN.] One such opportunity could be upgrading the lowly cesspool, a primitive system used to manage toilet waste, as well as the improved but far from optimal septic system. Cesspools, though largely now banned in the US and Europe, continue to exist in rural areas around the world and cause significant issues as they are often a primary source of Nitrogen pollution and usually contain coliform bacteria (e.g. E.coli), phosphates, chlorides, chemicals and viruses (e.g. the novel Corona virus may spread through human feces) which contaminate groundwater or local water bodies.

Cesspools or cesspits come in various types but are basically a drywell for untreated household waste, including human feces. In some rural areas and even suburban areas these are still common. Long Island still has 250,000 cesspools and 110,000 septic systems in need of upgrading or replacement as these are largely responsible for the increase in algal blooms, fish kills and beach closures. Local municipalities have offered significant funds to homeowners to upgrade these leaching liabilities which have harmed the local economy.

The renewal or replacement of cesspools and septic systems may become a huge opportunity for the establishment of carbon-sinks. Septic systems are perhaps an even greater carbon sink opportunity as they are far more common and typically much larger. Though they are an improvement over cesspits, they too are responsible for significant water contamination.

A properly designed septic system often involves moving around large quantities of soil, sand and gravel to improve infiltration and filtration. However, septic systems seem to work indirectly on the principal of 'dilution is the solution' versus actual filtration. Soils with poor percolation are amended with vast amounts of sand and gravel to improve infiltration of rain water. The majority of this filtering materials is, strange as it sounds, placed above the area where the effluent is released into the soil. This set-up allows rainwater to percolate and prevents effluent from backing up and pooling at the surface. Drain pipes with holes at the bottom are typically sandwiched into a gravel layer which sits directly atop the subsoil (to where the effluent is then diluted and may contaminate ground water and even surface water). Adding a filtration layer of biochar below the drain pipes could help immobilize or neutralize contaminants of concern.

Using biochar for a septic system for private construction

In perhaps the first residential use of biochar in a septic system, I recently worked with a civil engineer and excavator to design a shallow trench septic system that included biochar. Since biochar is not currently an approved soil amendment for drain fields, we had to design it so that it could still pass regulatory muster. This was done by digging deeper trenches upon which biochar could be added before the gravel, sand and topsoil. Before trenches were dug, sand was used to create a raised bed. In this design roughly 10 cm of biochar was applied to 5 trenches measuring 18m in length for a total of one ton of biochar. Drainpipes with holes near the bottom were sandwiched in between 30 cm of gravel then covered with a geotextile to prevent soil from clogging the gravel. Finally, 30cm of topsoil was layered above the geotextile. Adding a layer of biochar beneath the gravel and pipe enhances adsorption and biological degradation, though in this demonstration measuring results will be quite a challenge.

Image 2&3: Setup of the septic biochar system where the biochar bed is placed below the sewage drainage pipe. Sand and gravel is then placed above.

This was a small system yet it still required 8 truckloads of sand (200t) and 2 truckloads of gravel to be hauled in. Larger homes often required three times as much sand in areas with heavy clay soils. Mixing far larger quantities of biochar into the sand and/or gravel layer, might allow for 50 - 100 tons of biochar per septic system. In addition to the drain fields, it could be used around the septic tank and in the trenches connecting the septic tank to the home and to the distribution box which lies between the septic tank and the drain field lines and serves to distribute effluent evenly. Similar structured soils have been successfully used in the Stockholm Biochar Project. Storm drains, bioswales, retention basics, detention ponds, rain gardens and dry creeks could also benefit from the addition of biochar. Biochar could even be used as an additive to make the concrete septic tank, the PVC pipes and the geotextile used in the septic system!

Municipalities could potentially fund cesspool upgrades or out of date septic systems using carbon financing. Imagine replicating the Stockholm model where the city converts green waste into biochar. The municipality could sell the carbon removal credits and use both the funds and the biochar to upgrade the leaking systems. This would have the added advantages of creating large-scale, local demand for biochar while also helping cities to manage their organic materials more economically.

Reusing septic system amendments

Municipalities might consider retaining the rights to the amendments so that they could remove them after a decade or so and use the enriched structured soils to rebuild coast lines or for urban tree planting. In theory, the biochar septic system could be set-up like a sort of "night soil aging" though the economics would be hard to predict and municipalities would be content, probably, with the assessment of the added carbon sink.

Carbon Math

The biochar for my homebuilding demonstration project was supplied by National Carbon Technologies using sustainably sourced wood and had a carbon content >90%. One ton of biochar would have 900kg of carbon. Based on experience from calculations using the EBC-Sink methodology, an average carbon to CO ₂ multiplier of 2.5 could be used to convert the carbon to CO2e. This takes into consideration the emissions related to feedstock production, chipping, transportation, pyrolysis emissions and other factors. The current carbon removal price is north of $60 per ton CO ₂e, so this single ton could generate $US 150 per ton of biochar. Now imagine being able to put 50 - 100 tons per residential system. That would generate more than enough funding to install higher performing, healthier sewage management systems. In Long Island alone this could lead to 18 - 36 Million tons of biochar being utilized which equates to carbon sequestration of between 45 Mt - 90 Mt CO ₂ eq! Now imagine this model being rolled out across a good part of the planet. This is the scale that is needed to make a material impact on climate rebalancing.

Additional research needed

To date little, if any, formal research has been done on this topic. Understanding the role of biochar's particle size, friability, water holding capacity and adsorption potential would be helpful to understand if certain biochars are superior to others in this context and how much is needed for an average household of six persons. Determining what blends of biochar, sand and gravel work best in different soils and climates would help in developing best management practices needed for regulators and system designers. Designing a cost-effective circular economy model for carbonizing urban green waste and blending it into reusable structured soils for cesspools and septic systems would be a game-changer when it comes to creating multi-beneficial sinks.

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Make carbon sink, not rise. Most of the world's toilets are not connected to sewers but drain into septic systems or cesspools. With new smart biochar based septic designs, this human derived waste carbon could become long term carbon sinks.

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Biochar - Building homes for soil microbes

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Biochar - Building homes for soil microbes

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BIOCHAR - Building homes for soil microbes

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Earthly Biochar announces plan to help Britain's ash trees

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Earthly Biochar announces plan to help Britain's ash trees

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Earthly Biochar, a research-led organisation that conducts commercial trials of biochar in the UK, has discovered that biochar can help to save the UK's ash trees.

Biochar is a sustainable form of horticultural charcoal. In the process of creating biochar, carbon, which otherwise would have been released into the atmosphere as CO2, is captured and stored instead.

Earthly's Founder, Lottie Hawkins, said: "In summer last year, we visited a farm in Wales that had two woodlands, both with ash trees, and both suffering from ash dieback.

"This farmer makes his own biochar to EU regulatory standards, and in an attempt to save his ash trees, he top-dressed biochar around the base of the trunks. He did this on half the trees with ash dieback and left the other half alone.

"One year went by, and the untreated ash trees had little new growth and looked withered; they looked like they were dying. In contrast, the biochar-treated ash trees have bushy, deep green new growth and look far healthier than their counterparts. This was ground-breaking information, and we decided to take the private research forwards, and apply for government funding to create a citizen science project that can test biochar treatment on a much larger scale across the UK."

The organisation is now responsible for conducting the largest commercial trials of biochar in the UK - and Lottie is asking for help to save our ash trees.

To find out more about the project, click here.

"We're asking members of the public to come forward, become citizen scientists, and help us help the ash trees," the 28-year-old said.

"Similar to the Big Garden Birdwatch from the RSPB, we're hoping people will get involved, document their natural surroundings, and help our natural environment.

"We're asking people to go out and find an ash tree, whether it's on their land, a nearby park, or a forest, and tell us about it using our new ash dieback website. We can then send biochar out for people to apply directly to the tree, or we can send it to the landowner, council, or forestry commission for them to apply.

"Our mission is to help save the ash trees, not just through the application of biochar but also by reducing the need for mass felling. We know from French research that 20% of ash trees have a genetic advantage allowing them to live successfully with ash dieback.

"If we can use biochar to improve the health of the other 80%, then we could move towards only felling single trees if they're a health and safety hazard. With mass felling, the healthy ash trees that have this genetic advantage will also be felled. We need these 20% to repopulate and pass on their genetic advantages, therefore protecting more of our future ash trees.

"It's not just the ash trees we're trying to save; it's also the species that rely on the ash, which often get forgotten about when we discuss losing these trees. There are 115 Ash-related species made up of insects, microbes, plants, and birds that would risk falling into decline when the ash trees have gone. This extinction cascade would be devastating to our UK woodlands."

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Devon-based organisation launches project to try and save our ash trees

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Devon-based organisation, Earthly Biochar, has come up with a project set to help save Britain's ash trees.

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Now roots play some key roles in the life of plants they; anchor plants in the soil, are the engine for plant growth, provide access to water and nutrients, as well as storing energy and carbon ...so what effect does biochar have on tomato root systems?

Observations from our Tomato Trial

As our tomato growing experiment came to an end we extracted the roots from the beds to see if the improvements we had seen above ground were somehow repeated underground. To our pleasant surprise, there were major differences. The roots of the biochar grown plants were substantially bulkier than the controls.

Looking more closely we noticed that what appeared to be biochar particles adhered to the root system.

We think it's a thing of beauty and weren't expecting such striking images.

The roots form quite a tangle but we could see examples where the root is growing directly into the particles of biochar.

We are not the first to see this. Lehmann and others have published photos showing roots interacting with biochar particles, see References below.

The Test - Are these particles Biochar?

The root system is decorated with particles, black particles. At first glance they look like the biochar we had incorporated into the compost used in our growing beds. To be sure we tested a section by crushing some of the particles under a small screwdriver blade ca 2mm width. The clear give-away for char is that it crushes with, often, a small "crack" before breaking into a pile of fine particles or dust - a brittle failure.

Among the pieces of char we did find some fragments, black on the outside brown and wood-like on the inside. These particles did not show the brittle failure of biochar but rather a plastic deformation under the pressure of the blade. The soil we used in the trial was created from garden compost sieved to 12.5 mm to remove larger material such as pieces of wood and stones. Woody fragments smaller than this were still present in our growing media.

Reflection - Root Systems Love Char

These tomato plant roots have formed an extensive network decorated with biochar and some woody fragments. Both biochar and these wood fragments are clearly not phyto-toxic. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that these "roots love biochar". Reference 1 below includes the comment: "Our results indicate that roots are attracted towards biochar, resulting in its (N & P*) partitioning between bulk and rhizosphere soil. Biochar thus controls plant root nutrient acquisition directly as a nutrient source and indirectly by altering soil nutrient content." Their reference* in the quote above is to nitrogen and phosporous.

It is difficult to draw too much from this small scale experiment but it deserves follow up in later trials.

References

Biochar-root interactions are mediated by biochar nutrient content and impacts on soil nutrient availability
M. T. Prendergast‐Miller M. Duvall S. P. Sohi
First published: 04 September 2013

"Our results indicate that roots are attracted towards biochar, resulting in its partitioning between bulk and rhizosphere soil. Biochar thus controls plant root nutrient acquisition directly as a nutrient source and indirectly by altering soil nutrient content."

Rapid electron transfer by the carbon matrix in natural pyrogenic carbon
Tianran Sun, Barnaby D. A. Levin, Juan J. L. Guzman, Akio Enders, David A. Muller,
Largus T. Angenent & Johannes Lehmann
Nature Communications volume 8, Article number: 14873 (2017)

Researchers discover high-def electron pathways in soil
by Cornell University
April 3, 2017

Contains a photo showing roots interacting with a biochar particle.

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The Effect of Biochar on Root Systems - Roots Love Char | Biochar

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The effect of biochar on root systems is strong, as roots love biochar. See photo evidence of roots decorated with char from our experiment

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BIOCHAR Producers and Suppliers UK Industry Guide - EBRI

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Study shows that inoculating soil with mycorrhizal fungi can increase plant yield by by up to 40%

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Farmland often harbors a multitude of pathogens which attack plants and reduce yields. A Swiss research team has now shown that inoculating the soil with mycorrhizal fungi can help maintain or even improve yields without using additional fertilizers or pesticides. In a large-scale field trial, plant yield increased by up to 40%.

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Enhancing Underground Communications (Advanced Session) – Part 1 - Groundswell 2023

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We can all help feed our soil and restore the missing life in it where we live and work.

Through sharing knowledge & information across our network we help people to make & supply local compost that is so alive & diverse that it can regenerate soil health anywhere on earth.

We help people to start their own local composting projects and host online events for the sporulation of ideas. We see presentations from our members and all help solve challenges with ideas and experience. Every other month we have 'In Conversation With' type events where one the leading teachers and practitioners in the world of Soil Ecosystem Restoration joins us to spread their spores of wisdom too!

Hosted by Compost Tom, there's a different meet up on zoom every month that boost the group with the answers and connections they need to make better compost everywhere.

This is a resource sharing network presented by Old Tree Soil for the benefit of our members' movements for local composting and social land regeneration.

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We're a global network of local compost creators committed to restoring soil health and reviving our food and drink culture. We platform regenerative teachers and share knowledge to build the movements for the social and ecological restoration of our world.

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Hand Model of the Brain

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Dr. Dan Siegel's Hand Model of the Brain

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Soil Carbon: Where Life Begins — Craig Sams

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Back in 1967 my brother and I ran an organic macrobiotic restaurant and food store – we followed macrobiotics, the way of eating described in the book Zen Macrobiotics by Georges Ohsawa. The restaurant bought as much as possible from organic producers around London so we built strong links

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A Bahá'í inspired organization for environment and sustainability

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Climate solutions, drawing on humanity’s collective wisdom.

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Drawdown has become a seminal text on climate solutions, drawing on humanity's collective wisdom about the practices and technologies that can begin to reverse the buildup of atmospheric carbon by mid-century.

The material contained within the pages of Drawdown has influenced university curricula, city climate plans, commitments by businesses, community action, philanthropic strategy, and more. This website provides a supplemental list of references used in development of the book.

The solutions content in the original book remains robust and relevant and its broader lessons still hold. For Project Drawdown's latest packaged analysis and insights, please see The Drawdown Review (2020).

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Drawdown has become a seminal text on climate solutions, drawing on humanity's collective wisdom about the practices and technologies that can begin to reverse the buildup of atmospheric carbon by mid-century. The material contained within the pages of Drawdown has influenced university curricula, city climate plans, commitments by businesses, community action, philanthropic strategy, and more.

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Mike Parker / Cleo Letts

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Marcus E. Raichle

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Beau Lotto and Cirque du Soleil

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How we experience awe -- and why it matters | Beau Lotto and Cirque du Soleil

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Gregg Wallace and mathematician Hannah Fry invite five special guests to a unique dinner party where they are scored on the environmental impact of every dish they choose.

MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and mathematician Dr Hannah Fry take over a restaurant and invite five special guests to enjoy a dinner party with a difference, where they will be scored on the carbon footprint of every dish they choose. Food accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, so making informed choices about what we eat is more important than ever.

Diners Sara Pascoe, Amol Rajan, Nikki Fox, Desiree Burch and Matthew Fort choose from a menu of tantalising treats, each of which tells its own environmental story. But will they be able to sort the eco-goodies from the eco-nasties hidden in each course?

Gregg is with the kitchen team preparing delicious dishes and uncovering tips and tricks we can all use to cook more sustainably. Hannah is working with environmental scientists to reveal the carbon footprint of every single item on the menu and uncovering the latest research that can help us enjoy the food we love that doesn't cost the Earth.

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BBC Two - Horizon, 2021, Feast to Save the Planet

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Gregg Wallace and mathematician Hannah Fry invite five special guests to a unique dinner party where they are scored on the environmental impact of every dish they choose. MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace and mathematician Dr Hannah Fry take over a restaurant and invite five special guests to enjoy a dinner party with a difference, where they will be scored on the carbon footprint of every dish they choose.

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Radio 4 Podcast

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BBC Radio 4 - 39 Ways to Save the Planet - Downloads

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Podcast downloads for 39 Ways to Save the Planet

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"Hyperaccumulator" plants grow in metal-rich soil-and suck a huge amount of metal out of the ground.

If you cut open the leaf of a hyperaccumulator plant, you get sap that's blue-green, because it's fully 25% nickel. That's an astonishingly high concentration; it's higher than the ore that goes into a nickel smelter.

This leads to a fun idea: What if, instead of mining rare minerals the traditional way-digging into the ground, a technique that requires tons of energy and damages the local ecosystem-you farmed them? Plant huge farms of hyperaccumulators on metal-rich soil, cut 'em when they mature, and extract the minerals. It even has a badass name: "Phytomining".

A group of scientists and farmers are currently experimenting with this wild idea. They've published a paper about it here-"The first tropical 'metal farm'"-and the New York Times recently covered their experiments:

They have the potential to remedy the mining industry's biggest problem: abandoned mines, which pollute waterways. A leftover mine, planted with hyper-accumulators, could salvage the remaining metals for additional revenue. That incentive could persuade companies to invest in rehabilitation or mine-waste cleanup.

Currently, the most common way to extract nickel for electronics requires intense energy - often derived from coal and diesel - and creates heaps of acidic waste. A typical smelter costs hundreds of millions of dollars and requires increasingly scarce ore that is at least 1.2 percent rich with nickel.

In contrast, plants on a small nickel farm could be harvested every six months on land where the nickel concentration is only 0.1 percent. After two decades, the roots would struggle to find enough nickel, but the land would have been sucked dry of its toxic metals, and fertile enough to support more common crops.

If you want to dive into the academic literature, there are a ton of papers and book chapters at the web sites of two of the researchers noted in that story, Alan Baker and Antony van der Ent.

(That CC-4.0-licensed photo of a hyperaccumulator tree, above, is courtesy Antony van der Ent!)

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Harvesting metal from plants that suck it out of the ground | Boing Boing

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"Hyperaccumulator" plants grow in metal-rich soil-and suck a huge amount of metal out of the ground. If you cut open the leaf of a hyperaccumulator plant, you get sap that's blue-green, because it's fully 25% nickel. That's an astonishingly high concentration; it's higher than the ore that goes into a nickel smelter.

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Here, we present the individual solutions reviewed and assessed by Project Drawdown, including their relevant sector(s) and their impact on reducing heat-trapping gases. This list is extensive but not exhaustive, and we continue to add to it as a living project.

Project Drawdown uses different scenarios to assess what determined, global efforts to address climate change might look like. Both scenarios shown here are plausible and economically realistic. Drawdown Scenario 1 is roughly in line with 2˚C temperature rise by 2100, while Drawdown Scenario 2 is roughly in-line with 1.5˚C temperature rise at century's end.

The results shown here are based on projected emissions impact globally. The relative importance of a given solution can differ significantly depending on context and particular ecological, economic, political, or social conditions. We invite a deeper dive into the many particularities and nuances of all of these solutions.

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Here, we present the individual solutions reviewed and assessed by Project Drawdown, including their relevant sector(s) and their impact on reducing heat-trapping gases. This list is extensive but not exhaustive, and we continue to add to it as a living project. Project Drawdown uses different scenarios to assess what determined, global efforts to address climate change might look like.

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Interview with Kate Raworth/ Clare Farrell  

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Interview with Kate Raworth/ Clare Farrell  

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Doughnut Economics

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Kate Raworth and Clare Farrell on BBC Radio 5 Live with Ben Zand | Extinction Rebellion UK

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Annie Leonard

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New study: World map of the most important protected areas to avert a climate catastrophe

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Most important areas that need protecting to avert a climate catastrophe

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Most important areas that need protecting to avert a climate catastrophe

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Irrecoverable Carbon in Earth's ecosystems. This map shows dense stores of ecosystem carbon which, if lost, could not be recovered by mid-century. From Noon et al. 2021. Mapping the irrecoverable carbon in Earth's ecosystems. Nature Sustainability.

These stores, which researchers call "irrecoverable carbon", are primarily mangroves, tropical forests and peatlands, as well as old-growth forests in temperate latitudes. The special protection of these crucial areas has another advantage: they are also havens of biodiversity. Thus, the targeted protection of these irretrievable carbon reservoirs can simultaneously make a significant contribution to species conservation.

"The consequences of releasing this stored carbon would stretch on for generations, undermining our last chance to stabilize Earth's climate at tolerable levels for nature and humanity," said Johan Rockström, Conservation International chief scientist and co-director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, a leader in climate and sustainability research. "We must act now to safeguard the planet's ability to serve as a carbon sink, which includes prioritizing these unique ecosystems."

The new worldwide map, published today in the journal Nature Sustainability, shows that half of Earth's irrecoverable carbon is highly concentrated on just 3.3% of land - primarily old-growth forests, peatlands and mangroves. These vast reserves of carbon are equivalent to 15 times the global fossil fuel emissions released last year.

Researchers say that knowing which ecosystems contain the greatest irrecoverable carbon stores can help governments focus global efforts to protect 30% of land by 2030. Targeted conservation would yield big gains - increasing the land under protection key areas by just 5.4% would keep 75% percent of Earth's irrecoverable carbon from being released into the atmosphere, researchers found.

An accompanying report, also released today, reveals that many of these irrecoverable carbon areas overlap with places containing high concentrations of biodiversity - meaning that protecting lands essential for climate stability would also conserve habitats for thousands of mammal, bird, amphibian and reptile species. The paper calls for the creation of "irrecoverable carbon reserves," new, area-based conservation measures designed to ensure irrecoverable carbon remains in these critical ecosystems.

According to the Nature Sustainability study, the largest and highest-density irrecoverable carbon ecosystems include

The tropical forests and peatlands of the Amazon biome (31.5 Gigatonnes irrecoverable carbon);

The Congo Basin (8.2 Gigatonnes);

Islands of Southeast Asia (13.1 Gigatonnes);

The temperate forests of northwestern North America (5.0 Gigatonnes);

Mangroves, seagrasses and tidal wetlands globally (4.8 Gigatonnes).

The study also details how vulnerable irrecoverable carbon areas are to human activity and climate change - and how much irrecoverable carbon is stored within Indigenous and protected lands. These key findings include

52% of the world's irrecoverable carbon currently lacks any formal protection or management;

More than a third of irrecoverable carbon (46.7 billion gigatonnes) is stored within the government-recognized lands of Indigenous peoples and local communities;

Across ecosystems, the highest concentrations of irrecoverable carbon are found in mangroves (218 tonnes per hectare, on average), tropical peatlands (193 t/ha) and boreal wetlands (173 t/ha).

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New study: World map of the most important protected areas to avert a climate catastrophe

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11/18/2021 - New research out today from Conservation International maps the places on Earth that humanity must protect to avoid a climate catastrophe. These ecosystems contain what researchers call "irrecoverable carbon," dense stores of carbon that, if released due to human activity, could not be recovered in time for the world to prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

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Zero Hour: it's time to pass the CEE Bill

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The CEE Bill explained - In less than 2 minutes

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Ella Daish

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Ella Daish is a UK-based environmental activist and founder of the #EndPeriodPlastic campaign. Her award-winning campaign is leading to significant changes in the period industry, resulting in retailers removing plastic tampon applicators from their products, and sparking others to develop sustainable ranges. Ella has influenced Welsh councils and government to spend their period poverty funding, which makes menstrual products freely available at schools and colleges, on eco-friendly products.

Ella believes collective action must be taken on all levels, including industry, and government to bring about meaningful change. She is passionate about holding brands accountable for their environmentally-damaging practices, engaging with councils and governments to implement legislation and bring about change, and encouraging individuals to rise up for the causes they care about.

She was awarded the Climate Coalitions Green Heart Hero 2020 Award for Individual Inspiration, included on The Big Issue's Top 100 Changemakers of 2020, and BBC Woman's Hour Power List, for her activism and campaigning efforts.
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As well as writing articles, and working on campaigns, Ella also speaks at events, on panels, and works with film makers. If you have an opportunity, collaboration or project that would fit with Ella's talents and aspirations then please get in touch via the contact page!

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Ella Daish is a UK-based environmental activist and founder of the #EndPeriodPlastic campaign. Her award-winning campaign is leading to significant changes in the period industry, resulting in retailers removing plastic tampon applicators from their products, and sparking others to develop sustainable ranges.

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Citizen science for positive environmental impact

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r3.0 Conference 2020 Keynote James Quilligan

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r3.0 Conference 2020 Keynote James Quilligan

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https://vimeo.com/474587237

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Lottery funded project

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TED: Women at forefont of climate change

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TED: Women at forefont of climate change

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In October 2019, Jane Fonda launched "Fire Drill Fridays," weekly protests centered on climate change and calling for an end to new fossil fuels, a just transition to a renewable economy, and demands that Congress pass the Green New Deal. The protests began in Washington DC, and in February 2020, Fonda joined forces with Greenpeace and other allies and the movement shifted to California and to communities across the country.
For thousands of years, a patriarchal paradigm has ruled. It's the paradigm that has led to the climate crisis, an extractive, use-up-and-discard mentality that treats workers, those who are different, women and the natural world as commodities, at men's disposal, for their enjoyment and their profit. Around the world, in countries such as Hungary, Brazil, India, the UK, Turkey, the Philippines, Russia and the US, we can see the apotheosis of this toxic mind-set in the nationalistic tyrants, strongmen and would-be dictators.

Under the millennial-old patriarchal rule, the feminine principle has been not destroyed but suppressed. The spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, writes that this has "enabled the ego to gain absolute supremacy in the collective human psyche."

He adds that it is harder for the ego to take root in the female than in the male because women are "more in touch with the inner body and the intelligence of the organism where the intuitive faculties originate," have "greater openness and sensitivity toward other lifeforms," and are "more attuned to the natural world."

Men fear that becoming "we" will erase the "I," the sense of self. For most women ... our "we" has been our superpower.

I like to believe that this is true, but I know for sure that women have been socialized to be caregivers, more attentive to others. Perhaps this has something to do with why women tend to be less susceptible to the disease of individualism, are more conscious of our physical and spiritual links to the natural world, of our interdependence, of the importance of the well-being of the community at large, not just our small personal circle.

Men fear that becoming "we" will erase the "I," the sense of self. For most women, our "I" has always been a little porous, whereas our "we" has been our superpower.

I think some of this goes back to our hunter-gatherer past. Men went out to try to spear animals and bring back meat. Anthropologists have written that on the occasion the hunter did bring back meat, which was often not the case, he would give it to his family or use it to curry favor with tribal leaders. It was the reliable food - tubers, nuts and berries - gathered by women, young and old, that made up the family's daily nutrients.

And if a woman's own family didn't need the food, she would distribute it to other tribal members. And if the younger women were pregnant or nursing, older women did the foraging. Grandmothers would also help with birthing, care for newborns, and were indispensable in advising the younger women about where the best water was, the juiciest berries, the poisonous insects. Survival meant respecting the interconnectedness between women. They truly depended on each other, and I believe that is baked into our DNA.

This is of utmost importance now because the climate crisis we face is a collective crisis that requires collective, not individual, solutions. And the challenge is that for the last 40 years the idea of the collective, the public sphere, the commons, has been deliberately eroded and individualism has risen to take its place.

But individually we are powerless to make the needed systemic change. That's why individualism works to the advantage of the relatively few who wield power, and that's why we need to set aside our differences, unify around our common needs, because together is how we gain power.

According to Anthony Leiserowitz, a senior research scientist at Yale who studies public perceptions of climate change, the three countries where people are the least aware of the climate crisis are the US, Canada, and the UK. Why? Because, Leiserowitz says, those are the countries where individualism has taken root the most, especially in the last thirty years, fanned by conservative news outlets.

"Women are not better people than men. We just don't have our masculinity to prove," says Gloria Steinem.

But even in those countries, as everywhere on the planet, it's women's sense of our interdependence that helps explain why we are the ones who save not just our own families but also our communities during extreme weather events and what allows women to rise in greater numbers to face this collective climate emergency.

As Gloria Steinem says, "Women are not better people than men. We just don't have our masculinity to prove."

These are some of the reasons that women are at the forefront of climate solutions. But in many ways, they also bear the brunt of climate change. In developing countries, it's women who are responsible for producing 40 percent to 80 percent of food. They plant the crops, harvest them, fetch the water and chop the wood, the things that allow their families to survive. And because of climate change, when crops are failing and water is scarce, women sometimes have to walk for days and still may not find these lifesaving resources. Climate change makes their job much harder.

Women also make up 80 percent of climate refugees - people who are displaced because of extreme weather events - and they are among the last to be rescued from those crises. Studies have shown that women are 14 times more likely to die in a climate-related disaster than men.

What's more, women carry more body fat than men do. It is in that fat that a disproportionate "body burden" of fossil-fuel-based pollutants, pesticides and chemicals is sequestered that can cause health issues such as cancers and can be spread to children in utero or through breast milk.

Here's something that you may not know that I learned that week as I studied women and climate change for our Fire Drill Friday. Reports show that there are significant increases in rape, sexual assault and domestic violence in places experiencing climate- related disasters like floods and earthquakes or environmental destruction like mining, fracking, or drilling. When oil pipelines and fracking sites are under construction, it brings an influx of thousands of men into rural areas and on indigenous reservations where they are housed in "man camps."

In the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, and in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, there's been a surge in sexual violence against Indigenous women. North Dakota has at least 125 cases of missing native women, although the numbers are likely higher because records are not officially kept. Patina Park, executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, said, "We can't be surprised that people who would rape our land are also raping our people.

We are never going to solve climate change - or a whole host of related challenges - without women in leadership positions. The more we have women leading the climate movement, the stronger our movement will be. Countries where women lead embrace international climate treaties more often than those led by men. Paul Hawken's "Drawdown" study, which examined the top ways to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, found that educating girls and empowering women was one of the most effective climate solutions.

So, for those who identify as a woman, start by finding a community that can support (and hopefully join) you as you develop your climate activism, especially if you find yourself pigeonholed into more traditional roles.

Those who do not identify as a woman, take steps to support the women-identified people in your lives. Take on your fair share of the housework and child rearing at home and logistical and administrative work in the office, freeing women to lead. If you are part of a climate campaign or organization, make sure you're not unconsciously limiting the participation of women. If there's not a good gender balance, find out what you can do to make this work more welcoming for women. If you want to advance equal pay and equal rights, the American Association of University Women is a good place to start.

The vast majority of the world's farmers are women, and women farmers have proven to be better environmental stewards of the land.

Whether women have a choice about having and raising children is critical for climate justice. Educating and empowering women lead to fewer unwanted pregnancies and more opportunities for women. The climate crisis disproportionately harms poor women and women of color, who are also the most burdened with child rearing and other forms of care work. Learn more about reproductive justice and gender justice by joining organizations like SisterSong, Forward Together, National Domestic Workers Alliance and One Billion Rising.

The vast majority of the world's farmers are women, and women farmers have proven to be better environmental stewards of the land. We have seen this in the Chipko, or "tree hugger," movement started by Indian women farmers in the 1970s and the green belt movement that planted thousands of trees in Kenya, founded by Wangari Maathai, the environmental activist and mother of three who won the Nobel Peace Prize for this work in 2004.

Organizations like Food First and La Via Campesina work to protect women's rights to their land, including economic and civil rights, and safeguard them from sexual assault and violence. Educate yourself about the ongoing crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women, a disproportionate number of whom have disappeared near fossil-fuel extraction and fracking sites across North America. Raise awareness of this tragedy by supporting organizations like the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Support young women-led organizations like Greta Thunberg's School Strike for Climate, Future Coalition and Fridays for Future. Funnel resources into grassroots, women-led groups that focus on climate and gender equity and offer to get involved. Some of my favorites are Women's Earth Alliance, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, African Women Unite Against Destructive Resource Extraction (WoMin), and Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO).

Winona LaDuke's Hemp & Heritage Farm is another Indigenous-women-led organization to support. This longtime environmental activist, who joined Fire Drill Fridays in DC, is resisting fossil fuel pipelines and also growing hemp for renewable energy. Check out her innovative work.

Elect more women to public office and other leadership positions, and make sure women are at the table when climate crisis solutions and environmental justice are being discussed, such as the Green New Deal. (There's even a Feminist Agenda for a Green Deal, developed by women leaders around the world.) Be sure the women you're electing are committed to climate, social and environmental justice. The British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's legacy is one of the worst for the environment and women's, workers' and immigrants' rights. Do your homework, and make sure women leaders know you're counting on them to do right by their gender, as well as the whole planet.

You can also encourage women to vote. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has documented that women are more concerned about climate and more supportive of government action than men. So let's get women to the polls and vote for climate leaders. And let's work to make sure there are climate-committed women running for election up and down every ticket around the world. Groups like EMILY's List have helped make this happen when it comes to reproductive choice; organizations like the Women's March are focusing on climate and reproductive justice in 2020. Join in solidarity with your sisters around the globe.

Excerpted from the new book What Can I Do?: My Path from Climate Despair to Action by Jane Fonda. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Press, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. © 2020 Jane Fonda.
Watch Jane Fonda's conversation at TEDWomen now:

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Jane Fonda: Why women are at the forefront of climate solutions

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We are never going to solve climate change -- or a whole host of related challenges -- without women, says political activist and actress Jane Fonda. She explains how to get involved and how the rest of us can support the women in our lives.

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is a word to describe what is happening to our planet; the mass damage and destruction of the natural living world. It literally means "killing one's home".
And right now, in most of the world, no-one is held responsible.
It's time to change the rules. It's time to protect our home.
We are working, together with a growing global network of lawyers, diplomats, and across all sectors of civil society, towards making ecocide an international crime.

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Advocating globally for a law of ECOCIDE, making large-scale & systematic destruction of nature an INTERNATIONAL CRIME alongside War Crimes, Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity

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The B-Lines network aims to join the dots between meadow habitats, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely between them

Roads and railways have made it easy for people to travel around the UK, but have had the precisely opposite effect for insects. Alongside housing developments, industrial sites and farms, transport infrastructure has fragmented insect habitats, leaving many pollinators marooned on shrinking islands of biodiversity.

A new conservation project aims to address that by creating a network of wildflower superhighways across the UK. Ten years in the making, the B-Lines initiative was launched by the insect charity Buglife on Tuesday and has already generated interest from unexpected quarters.

"Off the back of [the launch] we have had housebuilders ringing up asking how they can incorporate the network into housebuilding, so it could have a really positive effect," said Buglife's Paul Hetherington.

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Buglife has spent the last decade mapping potential routes for the insect superhighway - often at considerable cost. Access to the land-use data needed to create the map cost around £2,500 per county, then there was the hours of time needed to collect the data and identify the best routes for insects.

On first inspection the resulting map (pictured, below), looks like something the AA might have produced. But rather than roads, the red lines highlight proposed wildflower corridors that will join the dots between fragmented insect habitats and perhaps help, in a small way, to reverse the decline of the UK's wildflower meadows.

"Since around about the 1930s we have lost 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows in England and Wales," said Hetherington. "To put that into perspective, that is a land mass roughly one and a half times the size of Wales - a massive amount of habitat has been lost."

Hetherington said the proposed highways are more like "stepping stones" than continuous corridors of flowers. And he told Positive News that if just 10 per cent of the proposed network comes to fruition, that could be enough to give the UK's ailing insects a boost, and a route out of habitats that become too hot due to the climate crisis.

"It can make a huge difference in mitigating declines," Hetherington said."The things that have really hammered pollinators, and bugs in general, are habitat loss, fragmentation of habitat, loss of connectivity of habitat, climate change and pesticides - this deals with everything except pesticides."

It could also, adds Hetherington, prevent interbreeding, which happens when insects are isolated in fragmented habitats. However, as he pointed out, it won't address one of the main causes of bug declines in the developed world: the widespread use of pesticides.

The B-lines network is not just a concept. Pilot sections have already been completed, including the South Wales B-Lines near Cardiff.

"Since that was done, there have been recordings of the shrill carder bee - one of our rarest bumblebees - in Cardiff town centre," said Hetherington. "It hasn't been seen there for a very long time, it has literally been confined to a few pockets of land around the country, so to have it back in Cardiff, I think shows that this connectivity can work."

Another project near Bridgnorth, a town in Shropshire, is currently underway. It will see a 10-mile strip along both banks of the River Severn planted with wildflowers. "A lot of that is formerly arable land so there is a positive land change there," noted Hetherington.

And in Norwich, Buglife has been working with Network Rail to plant wildflowers along a one-mile stretch of track.

Anyone living along one of the proposed routes can get involved in the project. All they need to do is let their lawns grow, or even just create a small herb garden, which Hetherington likened to creating a "motorway service station for bees".
Main image: Jonny Gios

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Conservationists are creating 'superhighways' for insects in the UK

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The B-Lines network aims to join the dots between meadow habitats, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely between them Roads and railways have made it easy for people to travel around the UK, but have had the precisely opposite effect for insects.

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Prof Michael Depledge, European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Exeter University

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GreenPlanet BluePlanet Podcast. 9,617 likes · 2,678 talking about this. We are on a mission to display and uncover the holistic visions for Planet Earth. Videos and Interviews highlighting artists,...

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Peter Kalmus

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Grief for our battered world is a Superpower for 2021 | Extinction Rebellion UK

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Working in partnership with numerous businesses and academics across Europe, our team of dedicated engineers have developed a world-first global solution to avoid waste and create energy.

The HERU turns every day resource into energy to fuel your boiler, including coffee cups, nappies, and plastics, amongst many other things, can be pyrolysed for energy for your boiler using the game-changing HERU.

If you believe in our mission, join our journey as we bring HERU to the commercial and domestic market over the next few years.

Thanks for your interest and support,

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Working in partnership with numerous businesses and academics across Europe, our team of dedicated engineers have developed a world-first global solution to avoid waste and create energy. The HERU turns every day resource into energy to fuel your boiler, including coffee cups, nappies, and plastics, amongst many other things, can be pyrolysed for energy for your boiler using the game-changing HERU.

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Steve, YGS Landscapes, Urban School Microforest

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Steve, YGS Landscapes, Urban School Microforest

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(Image: John Allen)

Plymouth has a new urban "forest" after children planted hundreds of trees in a pioneering move which could see every city school have its own woodland. Pupils at Mount Wise Community Primary School planted more than 220 trees - including oak, willow, hawthorn, rowan and other varieties - as part of a project dreamed up by city business YGS Landscapes, which envisages a "forest" at every school in Plymouth.

The Mount Wise micro-forest was planted using a method developed by world-renowned ecologist Dr Akira Miyawaki, which means it has the potential to grow 10 times faster, be 20 times more biodiverse, and up to 30 times better at absorbing carbon compared to more traditional ways of creating woodland. The end result will deliver benefits for the environment and air quality.

The micro-forest project started in 2021 when the school wanted to breathe new life into an overgrown and unused playground. It put out a plea for help at the same time YGS Landscapes was looking to create Plymouth's first urban micro-forest.
READ NEXT: Cafe named after Capt Scott's ship opens in Devonport's listed 'flatiron' building
Volunteers, including Plymouth Albion rugby players, provided time, labour, equipment, and donations. Stonehouse-based charity Millfields Inspired backed the project as part of its Widening Horizons schools programme, which is expanding into Devonport. Plymouth businessman Nigel Pay acted as project manager.

The finished woodland included a forest school seating and learning area, to help children study and engage with the environment. And to help bring learning to life,YGS Landscapes' managing director Steve Warren-Brown penned a children's book series, illustrated by artist Steve Evans, named My Wacky Forest, playing on the name of Dr Miyawaki.

The first three books in the series feature lead character Mushi, a "fun guy" mushroom who introduces young readers to colourful woodland creatures to convey stories about the natural environment in a fun and informative way. The books, of which more are planned, have been adopted into the curriculum at Mount Wise, so the micro-forest, forest school and books can work together to educate and entertain young environmentalists.

All children received copies of the books at a tree-planting event and enjoyed a storytelling session in the forest school area. YGS Landscapes now plans to create a programme that unites schools, volunteers and businesses seeking to offset carbon and support community projects and give every school its own forest, either on its own land or within public spaces.

Mr Warren-Brown said: "I wanted to create Plymouth's first urban micro-forest, and that's been achieved, with the help of an enthusiastic school, supportive sponsors and generous volunteers. I'm exceptionally proud to have brought my vision and books to life in this way. This is the culmination of much hard work, creativity and passion - and hopefully just the start of a project with huge potential.

"Micro-forests are incredible for our climate and community; they act as a 'super-lung' by improving air quality in the area around it - and who wouldn't want that to be a part of every school? For communities, the advantages are obvious, benefiting the next generation in many ways, and for businesses looking to offset their carbon and support socially responsible projects, it presents a huge opportunity."

Helen Jennings, head of Mount Wise Community Primary School, said: "We put out a call to our community to support us in creating an outside learning space, and we now have this incredible urban forest. It's been an exciting journey with so much learnt along the way, and is only the beginning. We want our children and the community to get involved, learn more about the environment, and enjoy the forest for generations to come."

Andy Botterill, trustee of Millfields Inspired, said: "We were keen to support this project; something that benefits children's learning, community connections, and helps the environment is the type of initiative that fits perfectly with our objectives. With our Widening Horizons programme expanding into Devonport, we help children learn more about the world of work and possibilities open to them, and this project is a great starting point."
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Plymouth's first urban 'forest' planted at city school

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Plymouth has a new urban "forest" after children planted hundreds of trees in a pioneering move which could see every city school have its own woodland. Pupils at Mount Wise Community Primary School planted more than 220 trees - including oak, willow, hawthorn, rowan and other varieties - as part of a project dreamed up by city business YGS Landscapes, which envisages a "forest" at every school in Plymouth.

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Tourism desperately wants to return to old normal

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Tourism desperately wants to return to old normal

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With each passing day, the grave future of Earth becomes more stark. The disruption of COVID-19 has not been enough to shift the trajectory, nor has it prompted polluting sectors of the economy to reconsider the harms they inflict on the planet.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the global tourism sector. Before COVID-19, international aviation emissions - already a major contributor to global warming - were forecast to potentially triple between 2015 and 2050. Likewise, emissions from the cruise ship industry were also growing.

The pandemic itself can be traced back to humanity's relentless damage to nature. And mass global tourism is emblematic of this voracious, growth-at-all-costs mentality.

Tourism brings many economic, social and cultural benefits. But it's time the industry seriously reconsiders its business model, and overall purpose, in a post-pandemic world.

We can't return to normal

The United Nations is among many voices urging the global tourism industry to address its many sustainability challenges in the wake of COVID-19.

The UN says it recognises tourism's important role in providing incomes for millions of people. But in a recent policy brief, it said now is the time to "rethink how the sector impacts our natural resources and ecosystems".

Unfortunately, there's little evidence that global tourism is looking to transform. For example, the International Air Transport Association is clearly seeking to return to the "old normal". Its resources guide to support airlines during the pandemic and beyond examines ways to restart the industry, but makes no mention of environmental sustainability.

Similarly, the World Travel and Tourism Council's 100 Million Jobs Recovery Plan calls on nations to remove barriers to travel, saying traveller confidence is "critical to the sector's survival and recovery". Sustainability rates only a passing a mention.

In Australia, the federal government is passing up opportunities to encourage tourism to reconfigure towards a more sustainable model. For example, the Building Better Regions Fund offers A$100 million for tourism-related infrastructure projects that mitigate COVID-19's economic impact. However, sustainability does not form part of the assessment criteria.

The industry's immediate focus on recovery is understandable. But the lack of a long-term environmental vision is damaging to both the industry and the planet.

A job half done

Pre-COVID-19, the global tourism and travel industry had begun to address some sustainability challenges.

For example, international aviation is seeking to improve global fuel efficiency by 2% each year until 2050. But this target is "aspirational" and even the International Civil Aviation Authority has conceded it was "unlikely to deliver the level of reduction necessary to stabilize and then reduce aviation's absolute emissions contribution to climate change".

Current technological constraints mean decarbonising aviation is challenging. An expected future increase in flight demand will only add to the problem. Globally, 7.8 billion passengers are expected to travel in 2036.

What's more, tourism's damage to the environment extends far beyond climate change. It adds to marine plastic pollution, degrades habitat and leads to a loss of wilderness and natural quiet. The industry's resurgence must address these and other harms.

Read more: Major airlines say they're acting on climate change. Our research reveals how little they've achieved

A vision for the future

People travelling outside their normal context are open to new experiences and perspectives. In this way, tourism presents an opportunity to encourage a new connection with nature.

So what should the future of tourism look like? I and others are advocating for a more sustainable tourism sector that's vastly different to what exists now. Travel should be closer to home, slower, and with a positive contribution at its core. In this model, all erosion of natural, cultural and social capital ceases.

Practices under the model (some of which already exist at a small scale) might include:

more travel to regional and local destinations, involving shorter distances. Under COVID-19, the trend towards such tourism has already begun. However, communities must be empowered to determine what type of tourism they want.

travellers paying a conservation-focused levy upon entering a country, such as those imposed in New Zealand and Botswana.

the donation of time, money or expertise to support environmental restoration as an integral part of the travel experience. For example, the Adventure Scientists initiative shows people with outdoor skills how to collect environmental information as they travel, providing new data for researchers.

businesses that "give back" by design. For example, Global Himalayan Expeditions empowers communities by electrifying remote villages in Ladakh, Kashmir. Trekkers co-finance solar panels and carry them as part of their travel experience.

ambitious industry standards, which ramp up over time, for sustainable management of environmental, cultural and human resources.

The UN Sustainable Development Group has suggested other changes, including:

a frequent flyer levy

incentives for domestic tourism

restrictions on flight advertising

no more airport expansions in high-income countries

better transport alternatives to aviation.

Read more: Feeling flight shame? Try quitting air travel and catch a sail boat

Bouncing back differently

The above vision for tourism involves great changes. The industry's focus must shift from growth and profit to " regeneration " - helping to restore the natural world that humans have so badly damaged.

And the transition must happen gradually, to allow tourism-dependent economies and businesses to adjust.

The global tourism industry will persist after COVID-19. But it must be reimagined as, first and foremost, a public good rather than a commercial activity.

And the goal of ecosystem restoration must be at the industry's core. Planetary health is inextricably linked to our own well-being - and that of the tourism industry. After all, there's no tourism on a dead planet.

Read more: Why our carbon emission policies don't work on air travel

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Tourism desperately wants a return to the 'old normal' but that would be a disaster

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With each passing day, the grave future of Earth becomes more stark. The disruption of COVID-19 has not been enough to shift the trajectory, nor has it prompted polluting sectors of the economy to reconsider the harms they inflict on the planet. Nowhere is this clearer than in the global tourism sector.

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These bus stops are a sanctuary for bees

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Utrecht in the Netherlands has redesigned over 300 bus stops to feature "green roofs", which aim to provide a habitat for bees in the city.

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Tackling climate change is a big task and can feel impossible to do alone. But there are clear ways of cutting your contribution to carbon emissions, also known as your carbon footprint.

BBC Reality Check's Chris Morris explains how changing three aspects of how you live can make a difference.
Motion Graphics by Jacqueline Galvin Produced by Soraya Auer

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How can you reduce your carbon footprint?

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Tackling climate change is a big task and can feel impossible to do alone. But there are clear ways of cutting your contribution to carbon emissions, also known as your carbon footprint. BBC Reality Check's Chris Morris explains how changing three aspects of how you live can make a difference.

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The 2023 Report is out now. Click here to read it in full

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The 2023 Report is out now. Click here to read it in full

The full report is available free of charge at The Lancet.

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2023 Report

Read the key findings and messages from the 2023 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

Lancet Countdown Community

Learn more about the Lancet Countdown regional centres.

Data Explorer

Our data explorer allows you to discover and interact with the data behind our 41 indicators at a national and regional level.

Need more detail? Download the report

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Need more detail? Download the report

The full report is available free of charge at The Lancet.

Download now

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Climate change is a public health issue. The Lancet Countdown brings together experts from across the globe to track how climate change is affecting our health, and how the world is responding

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Alan is an entrepreneur, connector, and a thought leader in risk management. His mission is to protect vital ecosystems and empower the regenerative economy with exponential technologies. Alan is Chief Strategist at GenBlue, a venture studio for nature. Previously, Alan established Natural Capital Markets at Lykke Exchange, and listed the world's first mangrove and Blue Carbon backed blockchain token (TREE). Alan has over two decades of risk management experience with leading financial institutions, and was a founding member of the RiskMetrics Group, a JPMorgan spin-off. Alan is an avid kitesurfer and an ocean lover.

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Alan is an entrepreneur, connector, and a thought leader in risk management. His mission is to protect vital ecosystems and empower the regenerative economy with exponential technologies. Alan is Chief Strategist at GenBlue, a venture studio for nature. Previously, Alan established Natural Capital Markets at Lykke Exchange, and listed the world's first mangrove and Blue Carbon backed blockchain token (TREE).

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Crude Britannia: How Oil Shaped a Nation, co-authored by James Marriott and Cambridge-based Terry Macalister, has more bangs for its buck than most Hollywood movies.

Terry Macalister, co-author of 'Crude Britannia' with James Marriott

Written at a relentlessly frantic pace, Crude Britannia reads like a detective novel as the authors - Terry Macalister is a former energy editor of The Guardian - visit locations and key players around the UK to study the effects of big oil on the UK economy.

They interview site managers, investors, executives, former executives, film makers, politicians, security guards, oil riggers, traders, lab workers, musicians and academics. They travel by train, air, car and helicopter from the North Sea to Aberdeen to the Mersey estuary, the Severn estuary, the Thames estuary - the places where oil was found and the places it was moved around.

Much as they try to present a rounded picture of how the industry operates, but they can't quite disguise the fact that oil companies are venal. For instance, as the authors explain, during the Second World War, Shell ended up backing both horses.

"Shell decided to effectively divide itself into an Allied corporation and an Axis corporation," we read. Shell adopted Nazi ideology on mainland Europe and enforced anti-Semitic policies at every level of its organisation. Shell traded profitably from both fascism and democracy throughout the war. The Nazi flag flew at Shell's HQ in The Hague. Certainly, some of the Messerschmitt 109s and the Spitfires that duelled over English skies during the Battle of Britain were powered by Shell.

A panoramic image of Grangemouth petrochemical plant in central Scotland

After the post-war settlement Shell became more socially aware. BP was largely state-owned and therefore also inclined to lean in towards building communities and the trust that goes with that. Alongside the refineries came housing and other social infrastructure.

This paternalistic role saw big oil acting largely in the interests of the British state where required. But in the 1980s UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher developed a mania for privatisation and, when oil was discovered in the North Sea, the UK's oil fields became a showcase for Thatcher's preferred way of doing things.

We hear how the oil barons became the new colonialists, ditching accountability to aggressively pursue new oil fields from Alaska to Nigeria - and, as the authors describe, nowhere was this more obvious than in Shell's behaviour towards the Ogoni in Nigeria.

In 1993 50 per cent of the Ogoni people protested against the oil extraction process and the laying of pipelines through their communities. The then-military ruler, General Sani Abacha, sent in the army and military police. Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were hanged by the state in 1995. Despite a raft of evidence linking Shell with the government's actions, no company executive has ever been answerable for its involvement. The taint of African colonialism, with pressures that also resulted in 2m people dying in the Biafra-Nigeria war in 1967 - played out against a background of lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta - couldn't quite be eradicated. And, on the back of oppression and exploitation, business was good, say the authors.

BP's logo history: the greenwashed version in use today was stroke of genius on the part of former chief executive John Browne

Over at BP - which had settled on the UK side after WW2 started in 1939 - the company had been privatised by 1987. The John Browne era started in the late 1980s. Coolly, Crude Britannia describes how Browne unleashed one of the most successful rebrands of all time: the BP logo changed in 2000 from the rather patrician shield it had been for 50 years to a depiction of the Helios, the sun king. BP went 'Beyond Petroleum'. It was largely greenwashing, of course, but at a stroke BP earned itself a reprieve for which it is still thankful because, by adopting the language of sustainability and renewable energy, it got itself off the hook.

It was just the latest ruse in a long line of rearguard actions. The business model for fossil fuels started really falling apart in the 1980s: evidence that burning fossil fuels resulted in harmful particulates being expelled into the air had first been published in the 1960s, and thereafter the alarm bells were ringing ever louder. To protect itself against the damning scientific evidence, big oil invested in launching a counter-scientific viewpoint, including vigorous lobbying - the start of a reframing of an industry which poured toxins into the atmosphere so effectively that it created the most significant warming the Earth has seen for around 56 million years (early Ecocene). So successful has the rearguard action been that it has not only prolonged the fossil fuel business model for four decades and counting, but has also contributed to the distrust of science itself, a distrust which manifests today as conspiracy theories believed by millions.

Musician and actor Wilko Johnson, a scion of Canvey Island, at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Picture: Terry Macalister

A full analysis of the horrific legacy of spills, accidents, colonial legacies and aspirations, and Macchiavellan behaviour is on display in Crude Brittania. Events which allowed the public to see the real-world costs of digging up fossil fuels and deliberately burning it in the atmosphere - Deepwater Horizon, the Alaska pipeline, the North Sea oil boom, the rise of Russia as a key oil player - are all assessed.

These vast narratives are not the prime focus of this richly rewarding book, which puts the human perspective first. The authors are not condemnatory, they are curious. There are many lighter moments, including the use of song lyrics and an unlikely-but-thrilling interview with Wilko Johnson (there was an oil refinery on Canvey Island). It's glorious stuff, but it still begs a question - why? Why are these appalling crimes against our life support system still continuing? Why do the chief architects of our doom remain free - and respected - men (and it is, invariably, men? Why does our society continue to condone them, and reward them with riches beyond avarice?

You're left to fend for yourself when it comes to these riddles. But perhaps there will be a sequel - Cruder Brittania? In which case I'd be keen to read that one too.

'Crude Britannia' is published on May 20

Crude Britannia: How Oil Shaped a Nation (Pluto Press, hardback £20) is published on May 20, 2021.

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'Crude Britannia': A Big Oil painting of the lies that wrecked the planet

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Crude Britannia: How Oil Shaped a Nation, co-authored by James Marriott and Cambridge-based Terry Macalister, has more bangs for its buck than most Hollywood movies. Written at a relentlessly frantic pace, Crude Britannia reads like a detective novel as the authors - Terry Macalister is a former energy editor of The Guardian - visit locations and key players around the UK to study the effects of big oil on the UK economy.

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The design field is at an inflection point. It must challenge its repertoire, rethink technology, and begin to see biodiversity as a building block of urban environments. Julia Watson's lush and meticulous new book, Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, provides a blueprint for sustainable architecture in the 21st century. For designers of the built environment, it is a first-ever compendium of overlooked design technologies from indigenous groups around the world. For the intrepid traveler or curious citizen, it is an invitation to know millennia-old societies thriving in symbiosis with nature thanks to local ingenuity, creativity, spirituality, and resourcefulness. For the indigenous groups represented, it is a source of satisfaction from seeing contemporary design scholarship catch up with their time-tested practices.

And for Watson, the book is a means to name, document, and create a toolkit for a design movement. "Lo-TEK," is built on "lesser known technologies, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and indigenous cultural practices and mythologies," as she writes in the book's introduction. It explores the space where design and "radical indigenism" meet. Conceived of by Princeton professor and Cherokee Nation member Eva Marie Goutte, radical indigenism encourages us to look to indigenous philosophies to rebuild our knowledge base and generate new dialogues across genres. Watson is advocating a movement that merges these beliefs with design to yield sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructures.

"I realized that all of these high-tech, repackaged, nature-based, eco-technologies come from a long lineage of indigenous technologies and knowledge. We can look to cultures that have been living with natural systems and understanding how to develop civilizations with complex ecosystems as a grounding for moving forward as designers," Watson explains. "It's a movement toward rethinking how urbanism interacts with nature."

Lo-TEK investigates that movement through its evidence base: more than 100 indigenous innovations from 20 countries. They are divided by ecosystem-mountains, forests, deserts, and wetlands-which underscores the link between the technologies and the environments and communities that gave birth to them. The Tofinu people of Benin's wetlands built a city on stilts surrounded by 12,000 man-made aquaculture pens. The acadja, as the paddocks are called, house fish and wildlife that rival commercial aquaculture systems in scale and productivity but with better environmental benefits and none of the drawbacks.

We're stuck in a paradigm of thinking conservation is this passive, fringe condition. It's becoming apparent, however, that conservation landscapes and the management and adaptation of those landscapes are critical to survival.

Julia WatsonOn the responsibility of designers to integrate and recontextualize indigenous technologies

Lo-TEK's arresting cover features the living root bridges and ladders of the Khasi hill tribe of northern India, one of the world's more innovative examples of vernacular architecture. In a practice dating to 100 BCE, the Khasi train rubber fig trees to grow into bridges and ladders that allow them to navigate steep ravines and flooded river crossings during the monsoon season. Each bridge takes one generation to build, and they have proven to be the only structures that can withstand the unforgiving monsoon rains.

The book is itself a design feat. Co-art directed by Watson and W-E studio, its Swiss brochure binding exposes the spine and the book's "construction and materiality." The detached cover also allows readers to map each technology to an altitude guide printed on its inside. Diagrams and illustrations are rendered simply to make the complex systems they depict easier to grasp. The aesthetic coherence between the many photographs belie sourcing from 100 different photographers. And gold foiling plays up the contradiction between the true value of indigenous technologies and the fact that they are "incredibly undervalued because they're not even recognized as technology," says Watson.

This is another central message of the book: that the design world must upend the prevailing paradigm that has revered "hard" (single-use) infrastructures, high-tech, and homogenous design, and the domination of nature while trivializing "soft" (multi-use) systems, local wisdom, vernacular architecture, and coexisting with nature. Identifying this hierarchy of beliefs as colonial and racist and labeling indigenous practices as technology are examples of Watson's efforts at this disruption in Lo-TEK. "The book is trying to break all the tropes of what we understand about indigenous people and say that what we think of as primitive is actually innovative," explains Watson.

Watson is Australian, but long before the wildfires began tearing through her country, she was deeply concerned about climate change and committed to design-based responses that involve radical indigenism. The climate crisis has made it imperative, not only because many indigenous innovations are inherently sustainable but also because standard architectural approaches have exacerbated climate change. "We are looking for high tech solutions to deal with a problem that was created through this fascination with high tech and industrialization," Watson says.

Lo-TEK proposes an alternative way forward, with Watson and her fellow practitioners in the charge. "It's up to designers now that they have this toolkit that extends our understanding of technologies that can be integrated and recontextualized in urban or peri-urban projects. We're stuck in a paradigm of thinking conservation is this passive, fringe condition. It's becoming apparent, however, that conservation landscapes and the management and adaptation of those landscapes are critical to survival. When you see forests being burnt at scale in Australia, you understand that these landscapes are interdependent with our cities. They impact our air quality, our survival. It's a critical time for critical considerations for designers."

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First-ever compendium of indigenous technologies provides a powerful toolkit for climate-resilient design - Harvard Graduate School of Design

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The design field is at an inflection point. It must challenge its repertoire, rethink technology, and begin to see biodiversity as a building block of urban environments. Julia Watson's lush and meticulous new book, Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, provides a blueprint for sustainable architecture in the 21st century.

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Introducing the new

Climate Justice recognizes that those who are least responsible for climate change are more likely to suffer its gravest consequences. Climate Justice places the needs, voices and leadership of those who are most impacted at the forefront - putting people and equity at the center of climate action and advocacy.

The B Corp Climate Collective stands firmly in solidarity with historically marginalized communities around the world - those who are currently and will be most affected by the devastating impacts of climate change. We are committed to centering all climate action and advocacy in Climate Justice.

The B Corp Climate Collective is working to advance this commitment and to equip our member businesses on this journey. To that end, we are pleased to release a new resource: The Climate Justice Playbook for Business: How to centre climate action in Climate Justice.
Learn more & get the playbook

We are the B Corp Climate Collective.

We demonstrate the collective power of our businesses to create an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet. We commit to taking bold and urgent action on climate, using advocacy, collaboration, and corporate action to stop emissions, drawdown carbon, and build just and inclusive companies and communities.

We Believe in Interdependence

We are living in unprecedented times. Accelerating climate change and ecological breakdown pose an overwhelming challenge to all life on Earth. We are in a climate and ecological emergency,-an existential threat to which we must respond immediately.

As Certified B Corporations, we sign a Declaration of Interdependence of our belief that "business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered. . . . and thus we are responsible for each other and future generations." We commit to conduct business with consideration for the environment and all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
Learn more about the B Corp Climate Collective

On September 30, 2020 we hosted the webinar: Let's Get to Zero! A Global Update on the B Corp Net Zero by 2030 Ambitions and the #RacetoZero - featuring special guests: Gonzalo Muñoz, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP25 (Chile / Spain), B Lab Global Board Member, Co-Founder of Sistema B; Paul Polman, Co-Founder, IMAGINE, Former CEO of Unilever; and Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Watch on YouTube >>

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Climate Justice recognizes that those who are least responsible for climate change are more likely to suffer its gravest consequences. Climate Justice places the needs, voices and leadership of those who are most impacted at the forefront - putting people and equity at the center of climate action and advocacy.

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© Pacific Biochar | The latest vineyard wonder offers improved performance - for a price.

A lot of viticulturists are talking about biochar these days but most people haven't a clue what it even is.

Biochar is a soil amendment that is gaining popularity in agriculture, though it remains on the cutting edge in viticulture. It's essentially pulverized charcoal. It has the ability to build organic matter in poor or depleted soils, boost microbial populations and lower a vineyard's need for nutrient and water inputs - allowing for less human intervention, as well as lowering both grower's cost of production and carbon footprint. This means healthier soils, healthier vines, healthier environment, and happier grower.

Biochar is made by charring plant material in a low enough oxygen environment that it does not turn to ash, a process called pyrolysis. As Josiah Hunt, CEO of Pacific Biochar in Santa Rosa, California, describes: "The resulting material has a tremendous surface area for its size, and as its adhesive surface bonds with charged ions, it can retain impressive amounts of nutrients from environmental loss, while allowing them to be biologically available. Biochar is also extremely porous, which imparts a sponge-like ability to keep water in topsoil and to be a home and safe haven for microbial populations."

It's also extremely stable; biochar will remain inactive in soil for thousands of years. Because of this stability, it's a great way to sequester carbon - not only its own carbon, but the additional CO2 it can pull from the air when soil conditions are improved. It also creates strong bonds with contaminant metals in soils, helping preclude their ending up in water sources or produce. It's a very eco-friendly and versatile soil amendment.

Origins

Biochar as a human soil additive has occurred in many parts of the world, but it is most associated with the Amazon, where it is known as "terra preta do Indio" (Indians' black earth). Although the Amazon appears lush, it has extremely poor soils, and is only able to survive from the constant recycling of its plant life (which is why Amazon deforestation causes permanent damage). Biochar-enriched soils are thought to cover swaths of the Amazon the size of France and to have allowed historic populations to flourish there with these otherwise poor soils.

Hunt quickly points out: "The word biochar is pretty new, but the material is not." Despite commonly being considered a human-made soil additive, he says "biochar exists wherever fire and plant life happen together".

Organic boost

In viticulture, biochar is primarily used in low organic matter soils, which usually means one of two scenarios: highly sandy soils and soils that have lost organic matter to years of conventional farming abuse.

Doug Beck is the science officer for Monterey Pacific, a vineyard management company in Soledad, California, managing more than 13,000 acres of vineyards on California's sandy Central Coast. In a former life he was the soil scientist for the UN's International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia (and has seen the famed terra preta himself). He explains why having sufficient organic matter is important: "When you have less than 1 percent organic matter, it means the vineyard isn't functioning on its own. You add nutrients as needed in a very mechanical way, but they are not retained in the soil and microbial populations are low. You can produce good quality grapes this way, but when you have higher organic carbon and microbial biomass, the site can function better on its own - you can add less [water, compost, fertilizer], and the vineyard will resolve disease problems better."

© Bedrock Wine Company | Bedrock's Jake Neustadt says biochar kicks-starts recovery in depleted vineyards.

Beck notes that while soils on California's North Coast can have around 2 percent organic matter, the sandy soils he works with on the Central Coast often have only 0.8 percent. "You have to manage these depleted soils much more than soils with more organic matter, which largely take care of themselves." As an example of biochar's water-holding effects (directly, and indirectly from the organic matter it facilitates), on sandy soils treated with biochar, Doug is often able to wait a month or two further into the season before starting irrigation - a big deal in drought-ridden California.

Depleted, abused soils are another way a soil can end up with low organic matter. Jake Neustadt, the vineyard manager for Bedrock Wine Company in Sonoma, California, explains: "We take over a lot of old vine sites that have been mistreated for decades, in terms of over cultivation and stripping of organic matter. The farmers may have been disking four times per year, and on sloping vineyards, all the topsoil has slid to the bottom of the hill. In those sites you have very little organic matter."

Bedrock started using biochar about seven years ago when rehabilitating abused vineyards. "The biggest thing for us in rehabilitating a vineyard, before we see a change in the vines themselves, is establishing a healthy cover crop. With biochar, suddenly the soil retains everything better (nutrients, microbes, water), so we see a big increase in cover crop biomass pretty immediately. This is the jolt that makes everything happen."

This "jolt" ushers in a cascade of changes. At first, biochar simply retains what cover crops need to grow. The roots of cover crops feed soil microbes and the biochar becomes a home to them, increasing populations and therefore a soil's ability to recycle plant material and furthering nutrient retention. These nutrients later feed future cover crops and the vines. Cover crops also open up compacted soils - a common occurrence in abused vineyards - allowing deeper water penetration and soil aeration, both critical for a healthy vineyard. Healthier soils and more abundant cover crops bring more beneficial insects. The vineyard gets closer to a self sustaining, closer-to-natural state.

Biochar and terroir

Biochar lasts for millennia and changes the characteristics of a soil - does it therefore alter terroir? Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, a man who has spent much time mulling over the nature of terroir and who has experimented with biochar himself, has valuable thoughts on this. "It is changing terroir, but everything you touch on the land, every time you do anything [such as fertilizing, watering, adding cover crops, planting vines] is changing terroir. Plowing or disking is a great deformation of terroir. Biochar is a benign one. Because you're encouraging mycorrhizae [the most critical group in the soil microbiome, which actively transport micronutrients in soil to roots], you're enhancing the signal of terroir." In this sense, Grahm feels biochar is a terroir amplifier, rather than a terroir deformer.

For his experimental Popelouchum vineyard in San Juan Bautista, Grahm applied biochar prior to planting. The vineyard is located on the edge of where dry farming is possible in California, and one of his hopes in using biochar is that it will allow him to dry farm. From a terroir perspective, this seems like a great deal. If all changes to a site deform terroir, Grahm is trading the application of a benign terroir deformer (and potential terroir enhancer) to gain full access to a very important aspect of terroir: enabling the vintage to be guided entirely by rainfall, as opposed to human irrigation choices.

Grahm points out that, in California, "we don't have soils that are rich in available minerals; they're very eroded. Especially in sandy soils, biochar is great in enhancing the uptake of minerals. If you look at Switzerland, there's a lot of rock that is currently being eroded and released into the soil solution, biochar doesn't have such a significant impact there. In California, with both mineral deficiency and drought, it's particularly beneficial for our conditions."

Biochar is a promising soil additive for many reasons. For farmers, it can lower costs. For purists, it can lower human intervention in vineyards. For the ecologically minded, it's a great way to sequester carbon and reduce waste, as well as clean up soils and our atmosphere.

And for those interested in great wine, as organics and conscientious viticulture become more prevalent, few would argue with the idea that healthy, happy vineyards make better wine.

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Biochar: the Vineyard's Next Big Thing | Wine-Searcher News & Features

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A lot of viticulturists are talking about biochar these days but most people haven't a clue what it even is. Biochar is a soil amendment that is gaining popularity in agriculture, though it remains on the cutting edge in viticulture. It's essentially pulverized charcoal.

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David Attenborough

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A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough | WHSmith

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Shop for A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future from WHSmith. Thousands of products are available to collect from store or if your order's over £20 we'll deliver for free.

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We seek to spark innovative research to find economically and environmentally responsible uses for biochar. We seek to bring scientific content to life in a manner that inspires academics and non-specialists alike. Although we use certain elements common to scientific publications such as peer review and references, we do not aspire to be an academic journal. We use these standards as we want our readers to be confident that what is written in the Biochar Journal is based on sound science and practicality. In the same way that we are not an academic publication, neither are we an industry journal although we hope that industry and entrepreneurial people find inspiration and ideas for new products and successful models for biochar deployment.

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We seek to spark innovative research to find economically and environmentally responsible uses for biochar. We seek to bring scientific content to life in a manner that inspires academics and non-specialists alike. Although we use certain elements common to scientific publications such as peer review and references, we do not aspire to be an academic journal.

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Our History

Regenesis was founded in 1995 to bring together pioneering educators in the fields of permaculture and ecological design with thought leaders in the worlds of business planning and organizational development. The founders' early mission was to transform the development industry into one that would contribute to, rather than undermine, the health of the planet. The Regenesis approach quickly attracted leaders in the emerging green building movement, who brought it to diverse project settings around the globe.

In 2012, Regenesis launched a series of educational offerings for sustainability professionals interested in integrating regenerative development into their practices. This program is ongoing and now supports an international network of regenerative development practitioners.

In 2016 Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability by Pamela Mang, Ben Haggard, and Regenesis was published by Wiley.

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Regenesis was founded in 1995 to bring together pioneering educators in the fields of permaculture and ecological design with thought leaders in the worlds of business planning and organizational development. The founders' early mission was to transform the development industry into one that would contribute to, rather than undermine, the health of the planet.

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Future Education

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Putting sustainability and Nature at the heart of learning - A New Way of Teaching and Learning

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The Harmony Project promotes a new way of teaching and learning, which puts Nature at the heart of education.

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Prof Ian Arbon

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2021-01-28 IET - Is Decarbonisation Enough

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This article is the third in a series of Founding B Corp interviews, where B The Change holds conversations between Certified B Corporations that helped establish the B Corp movement and newer businesses in the B Corp community. The series ties the reasons for the B Corp inception through to today's discussions around business's role in solving global and social issues.
Patagonia and Allbirds, two companies inspired by the natural world, are known as industry leaders when it comes to environmental advocacy and sustainable practices. But their leaders say they - and other businesses - should and must do more to address the impending climate crisis and environmental consequences.

As Certified B Corporations and benefit corporations, Patagonia and Allbirds are among businesses that consider the Earth as a stakeholder and factor their impact on the planet into their policies and practices as well as their mission and values. But they can't achieve these environmental goals alone: These leaders must work with others in their industries to confront the climate crisis while also advocating for policy and practices that encourage all businesses to take true climate action.

Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert says the outdoor apparel company's work to improve its products and practices while considering impact on a range of stakeholders is an ever-changing challenge - and they hope others follow their lead.

"We're 48 years into this and we're not a sustainable company. If anything, we're a responsible one in that we really try to be clear-eyed about our impacts, and we're really deeply committed to not only trying to work through the biggest issues in our supply chains and elsewhere, but also scaling solutions and open sourcing them to industry and beyond," he says.

Gellert discussed Patagonia's innovative practices during a recent conversation for B The Change with Joey Zwillinger, co-CEO of Allbirds, a sustainable footwear and apparel company known for its innovative materials and carbon neutral commitment that has grown from five employees in 2016 to more than 400 now. What follows are excerpts from their conversation.

Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert, left, and Allbirds Co-CEO Joey Zwillinger

As both B Corps and benefit corporations, your companies are grounded in a focus on stakeholders. How does that structure come into play when addressing the current societal challenges - climate, racial justice, and others?

Ryan Gellert: The person that started the company is the same gentleman that still owns the company, so our values have been pretty deeply institutionalized. Becoming a benefit corporation and becoming part of the B Corp community: This made us better in so many ways. Using the B Impact Assessment and being part of this community have really dimensionalized us on social issues and in thinking more broadly about our responsibilities.

In some of these areas, we feel like we've been working at it for a long time and thinking about it deeply. In other areas, less so. As it relates to racial justice, this last year has been incredibly humbling. It has been for me, and I think it has been for us as a company and as a culture. Really looking deeply both internally, and then earning the right, is kind of how I think we need to think about it, to have a voice and to use it and participate in the conversation externally.

Joey Zwillinger: That resonates with me quite a lot, and I love that humility that you expressed there, Ryan. Similarly, when we started the business and we did our first B Impact Assessment, I was a little bit jaded in the sense that it was like a one-size-fits-all standard that has to apply to the local grocery store down the street and a multinational consumer products company. But it really does force you to be better on a whole number of dimensions as a result of actually trying to capture every kind of business, which has been a positive impact.

Where that's led us is to a strategy where we think that all aspects of stakeholder governance, where we're looking and trying to take care of a whole host of different stakeholders, not just the environment, which is our really core focus and our stated public benefit, but all of these different aspects. One of the driving factors that I think about is really trying to understand the externalities that we create as a company and try to make sure that we pay for them or cover them, or make sure that we are investing back in the different ways that we are taking. That's something that we're quite mindful of as a company, and we've tried to institute a number of different processes to hold ourselves accountable to that.

Gellert: That's really encouraging to hear. We are so often held up as this example of sustainability, particularly in the business sector. And the reality is, we're 48 years into this and we're not a sustainable company. If anything, we're a responsible one in that we really try to be clear-eyed about our impacts, and we're really deeply committed to not only trying to work through the biggest issues in our supply chains and elsewhere, but also scaling solutions and open sourcing them to industry and beyond. But there is a tremendous amount of work to be done still, and I think often what we're reminded of is the reward for solving one problem or challenge is an invitation to a bigger one. That's been our journey.

How do your companies plan to move forward with their roles in policy advocacy on issues surrounding climate, stakeholder governance, and benefit corporations?

Zwillinger: Legislation is one aspect that we have tried to work on. I find that a lot of particularly large companies, public companies, say the right thing and then they work through their trade associations and do the opposite. For example, the Footwear Distributor Retailers of America, FDRA, is the major trade association in our industry. We recently got them to adopt a statement that says that every one of the members in the trade association is going to advocate for a price on carbon and have it levied upstream of us, and have it applied equally based on carbon intensity of the materials and the products that all the members make. It's a great move from the association.

We can utilize associations to make sure that we're not just lobbying as a single company. When you get Target and Walmart and Nike and Adidas and every single one of the people that are members to actually make a statement on carbon policy, it's quite powerful.

Allbirds has self-imposed a carbon tax, so we measure the climate change impact that we make as a company down our entire supply chain. We measure it, we try to get it to zero, but in the meantime we pay for carbon offsets along the way. That creates a line item of cost on our profit and loss statement that we need to compensate for, and that is an incentive along with other mechanisms that we put in place in the company to drive us down to zero.

Gellert: It's inspiring, and certainly we're going through some similar things and have some other things that have been in place for some time. We've developed a tool called an environmental profit-loss statement that we can apply to each specific product to really understand its impact.

We're running out of time to address the climate crisis, so we have to really be holistic and focus on root-cause issues. And holistic for us is using our core business and our supply chain. It's using our voice. It's using our resources. It's working with our community. And I think that a lot of companies say one thing and then indirectly or directly participate in a lot of other things through trade associations, and I think that's a critical call out Joey made.

You both have mentioned running out of time to address pressing climate concerns. So how do you focus your companies on the long game as well as doing things right and not making just surface changes that leave these underlying problems of inequity and extraction unsolved?

Zwillinger: First of all, I want to share some form of optimism. There are massive business opportunities and economic opportunities that are going to come out of the fight to combat climate change, which for some reason people think is counterintuitive. More on a microlevel, we are far from perfect and the goal posts keep moving. We keep learning more, and new science evolves. So we've tried to create frameworks that we think will stand the test of time and drive us not only to zero net-carbon impact but to beyond that, and do things that are net-positive for the planet.

Like Patagonia, we're focused on regenerative agriculture in terms of a really core focus on developing natural fibers and polymers - that can be derived through green chemistry from bio-based materials - that can make a net positive impact on the climate. We hope that we can actually, at some point, be a dividend to the planet when people buy our products. That's really the driving goal. So then how do we ladder from that, which sounds a little philosophical, down to tactical?

First, we measure everything. We then hold ourselves accountable and we label the carbon intensity of our products on every single product at every customer touch point. We try to synthesize this into a simple, singular metric that is your scorecard for whether you're combating or contributing to climate change. And we hope that a lot of people adopt this tool.

Secondly, we report on all of this to our board of directors, and we have significant governance in place around this topic. Thirdly, we then pay for this pollution. So we have carbon offsets, and we also have a rule internally that if we're considering a cost of materials increase to add a component that might be lower carbon intensity, the trade-off is the social cost of carbon as estimated in the best literature, which is around $50 per metric ton. And then lastly and notably, we compensate people for this. Our directors and above at our company have variable compensation, and 20% of their compensation is based on whether they reach carbon emission reduction targets each year.

Gellert: Yes, I hear a lot of similarities there, on agriculture, on metrics, and on ambitions around circularity and otherwise. We're a big believer in making the decisions that we believe are right, and then dealing with the outcomes of that, whatever they may be. And that increasingly, and in some ways unfortunately, has meant using our voice to take positions on calling people out where we thought that was necessary and becoming more engaged directly. Moving from supporting activists and the work that they've done, which is something we've been involved in for a long time, but to getting more directly engaged in activism ourselves.

But our ambition is to be in business 100 years from now on a living planet with healthy customers. That's the goal and that's also how we frame our decision-making. One of the other things that we're really focused on internally is creating different ways for customers to interact with Patagonia. That's product repair. It's also allowing customers to sell back product that is still usable but they're done using, so that we can offer it for resale at more approachable price points. Rental I think is an opportunity in the future, as is taking responsibility for every product we've ever made. Ultimately the big idea there is a relationship between us and our customers where we're collectively trying to accomplish the same things, and we're enabling that on our side.

Zwillinger: I'm proud of our SweetFoam, which we co-innovated with a company down in Brazil to create a carbon-negative material from a waste stream of sugarcane processing. Then we were able to open source that, which had both altruistic and pragmatic benefits around dropping the price for everyone and us included of that material, and also obviously doing a massive impact for combating climate change when a lot of people have adopted it. Over 100 brands have sampled, and dozens are starting to roll it out in their supply chain, which is pretty cool.

Gellert: Yes, and that's really important work. And I think you made the point perfectly: It's one thing to do things because you know they're right, another thing to also acknowledge that they can be good for the business as well. We developed, after six, seven years of a lot of time and energy and money, the first non-neoprene wetsuit made out of a natural rubber material, Yulex, and we open sourced the supply chain for that as quickly as we brought it to market. And it's the same motivation. Number one, it's a better way of building wetsuits. And number two, the more people adopt it, the more ubiquitous it will be and the cheaper the price it will be. So there can be nothing wrong with an element of self-interest there as well as we try to tackle some of these big problems.

Our goal here is not just to do the right thing in some of this as well. It's to build profitable businesses within the business, because we believe that's the only way it's going to scale. When you share these stories with people, they say, "Great story. Thanks for the 20 minutes of free entertainment, but it doesn't apply to us." Part of our responsibility is to prove that these things can really be profitable pieces of business in changing the way that we all engage with what often is treated as throwaway product.

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How Patagonia and Allbirds Set the Pace on Their Journey as Sustainable Leaders

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This article is the third in a series of Founding B Corp interviews, where B The Change holds conversations between Certified B Corporations that helped establish the B Corp movement and newer businesses in the B Corp community. The series ties the reasons for the B Corp inception through to today's discussions around business's role in solving global and social issues.

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Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

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Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

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Mariana Mazzucato & Rana Foroohar | Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism | 5x15

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WE CAN SURVIVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS
AND THRIVE IN THE NEW WORLD WE CREATE

This book shows us how

Haal diep adem en besluit dat we dit met elkaar kunnen doen

We bevinden ons in de beginfase van het meest cruciale decennium in de geschiedenis. Wetenschappelijke onderzoeken voorspellen dat ofwel ons laatste uur, ofwel ons mooiste moment is aangebroken. Wij bepalen de toekomst is een inspirerend manifest van de medeoprichters van Global Optimism, Christiana Figueres en Tom Rivett-Carnac. Het vertelt ons wat ons te wachten staat, hoe we ermee om kunnen gaan en wat we ertegen kunnen doen.

Dit praktische, optimistische en hoopgevende boek is voor elke generatie en toont ons de fantastische wereld die we met z'n allen tot stand kunnen brengen. Wij bepalen de toekomst laat zien hoe we allemaal een bijdrage kunnen leveren tijdens het belangrijkste decennium waarvoor we ooit hebben gestaan, en voorbij de klimaatcrisis een voorspoedige toekomst tegemoet kunnen gaan.

Respire fundo e decida que, em conjunto, podemos fazer isto.

E todos temos um papel a desempenhar.

Respire fundo e decida que, em conjunto, podemos fazer isto. E todos temos um papel a desempenhar.
Acabámos de entrar na década mais decisiva da história da humanidade. No que toca às alterações
climáticas, a comunidade científica internacional diz que esta pode ser a nossa hora final, mas também poderá ser a nossa hora mais bela. O Futuro Que Escolhermos é um manifesto inspirador dos cofundadores da Global Optimism, Christiana Figueres e Tom Rivett-Carnac. Explica o que está para vir, como o enfrentar e aquilo que podemos fazer.
Prático, otimista e empoderador, este é um livro para pessoas de todas as gerações, que nos revela o mundo emocionante que podemos criar. Se todos resolvermos fazer o que nos compete na década mais importante que alguma vez enfrentámos, teremos em O Futuro Que Escolhermos um guia para ultrapassar a crise climática em direção a um futuro melhor.

우리는 인류 역사상 가장 결정적인 10년을 살고 있습니다. 기후 변화에 대한 과학적 평가는 지금이 우리의 최후가 될 수도, 혹은 가장 멋진 순간이 될 수도 있음을 암시합니다. <한 배를 탄 지구인을 위한 가이드>는 글로벌 옵티미즘 (GLOBAL OPTIMISM) 공동 재단의 크리스티아나 피게레스와 톰 리빗카낵이 전하는 울림 있는 성명서입니다. 앞으로 어떤 일이 닥칠지, 우리는 어떻게 이를 맞이해야 할지, 할 수 있는 일은 무엇일지 이 책은 설명합니다.

실용적이면서 낙관적이고 강력한 이 책은 모든 세대를 위한 것이며 우리 모두가 역할을 할 수 있음을 보여줍니다. <한 배를 탄 지구인을 위한 가이드>는 역사상 가장 중요한 10년을 사는 우리가 각자 할 수 있는 일을 해냄으로써 어떻게 기후 위기를 찬란한 미래로 바꿀 수 있는지를 보여줍니다.

Weź głęboki oddech i uwierz, że razem możemy to zrobić.

A Ty weźmiesz w tym udział.

Wkroczyliśmy właśnie w najważniejszą dekadę ludzkiej historii. Bezsprzeczna, naukowa ocena zmian klimatycznych wskazuje, że mamy dwa wyjścia: czeka nas zagłada albo wyjdziemy z tej próby zwycięsko. „Przyszłość zależy od nas" to inspirująca książka założycieli organizacji Global Optimism, Christiany Figueres i Toma Rivetta-Carnaca. Wyjaśnia, co nas czeka, jak stawić temu czoła i co możemy zrobić.
Ta praktyczna, optymistyczna i dająca siłę książka pokazuje nam lepszy świat, którego wszyscy możemy być częścią i który możemy aktywnie współtworzyć. Zaangażujmy się w działanie właśnie teraz, w tej najważniejszej dekadzie ludzkiej historii! „Przyszłość zależy od nas" pomoże nam przekuć przejmujące doświadczenie kryzysu klimatycznego w lepszą przyszłość.

Respira hondo y decide que podemos hacer esto juntos

Acabamos de entrar en la década más importante en la historia de la
humanidad. La evidencia científica sobre el cambio climático señala que esta
puede ser nuestra hora final, pero también puede ser nuestra mejor hora. El
Futuro por Decidir es un manifiesto inspirador de los cofundadores de Global
Optimism, Christiana Figueres y Tom Rivett-Carnac. El libro explica lo que está
por venir, cómo afrontarlo y lo que podemos hacer al respecto.
Práctico, optimista y empoderador, este es un libro para todas las generaciones
y nos muestra el emocionante mundo en el que todos podemos ser parte de la
creación. Si todos hacemos lo que nos corresponde en la década más importante
que jamás hemos enfrentado, encontraremos en El Futuro por Decidir una guía
sobre cómo podemos ir más allá de la crisis climática hacia un futuro más
próspero.

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WEEKLY INSPIRATION

Each week join us for a lively conversation with special guests expressing the energy of outrage and the possibility of their optimism to tackle the climate crisis.

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WE CAN SURVIVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND THRIVE IN THE NEW WORLD WE CREATE This book shows us how Haal diep adem en besluit dat we dit met elkaar kunnen doen We bevinden ons in de beginfase van het meest cruciale decennium in de geschiedenis.

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Ep. 250 Kiss the Ground with John Dennis Liu