Biochar Field Event Brings Research, Farm Application and Mobile Production Together in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine - EntSun -- Farmers, researchers, conservation professionals and biochar advocates recently gathered in Freeport, Maine, for a collaborative educational event demonstrating how biochar can move from research and production to practical agricultural application.

Sponsored by American Farmland Trust, the event brought together work being conducted by Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment, Fable Farmstead, Yale University researchers and Mobile Biochar Systems.

The day began at Wolfe's Neck Center, where attendees participated in a walking tour of biochar field trials supported by American Farmland Trust. Participants visited plots where biochar is being evaluated in squash production and discussed how biochar is applied to agricultural soils and studied under real-world growing conditions.

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The event then moved to Fable Farmstead, where Mobile Biochar Systems provided an educational presentation and live demonstration of small-scale biochar production using the Maine Kiln.

Kevin Bernard, founder of Mobile Biochar Systems, discussed several approaches to farm-based biochar production, including flame-cap kilns, air-curtain systems and retort technology. The presentation was followed by operation of the company's mobile unit, the Maine Kiln, using wood slabs generated by Fable Farmstead's sawmill as feedstock.

While attendees broke for lunch, the Maine Kiln continued operating, allowing participants to observe the process of converting a locally generated woody waste stream into biochar on the same property where the biomass originated.

Following lunch, Jake Thompson of Yale University discussed research underway at Fable Farmstead involving sunflowers and hemp and the investigation of PFAS uptake from contaminated soils. The research is expected to include evaluation of harvested biomass and its subsequent conversion into biochar, providing an opportunity to study what happens to PFAS as contaminated plant material moves through the biochar production process.

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Attendees then returned to the Maine Kiln to observe unloading of the retort barrels and examine the finished biochar produced during the event.

The combination of field research, soil application, feedstock preparation and live biochar production provided participants with an opportunity to follow biochar through multiple stages of its agricultural lifecycle.

"Biochar becomes much easier to understand when people can see the research, watch it being produced and hold the finished product in their hands," said Bernard. "Events like this help take some of the mystery out of biochar production and show farmers what small-scale, on-site production can look like."

About Mobile Biochar Systems

Mobile Biochar Systems manufactures the Maine Kiln, a mobile retort biochar production system designed to convert any organic biomass into biochar on site where the material is generated.

For more information, visit www.mobilebiochar.com.