October 25th, 2010

Biochar Rejected Cartoon

by Alex Hallatt

I had to explain biochar to my editor, so this rough is a reject

I’ll leave it to CSIRO to define biochar:

Biochar is a stable form of charcoal produced from heating natural organic materials (crop and other waste, woodchips, manure) in a high temperature, low oxygen process known as pyrolysis. Due to its molecular structure, biochar is chemically and biologically in a more stable form than the original carbon form it comes from, making it more difficult to break down. This means that in some cases it can remain stable in soil for hundreds to thousands of years.