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The KonTiki design - a.k.a. the Flame Curtain Kiln, as the name implies, makes biochar of 50% to 70% pure Carbon, depending on feedstock, dryness, skill, and residence time. This has been proven to be a very effective way to make high grade biochar. The only drawback is that it is dependent on good weather conditions and is relatively labor intensive.

We used 20% in our regular soil - that is when organic matter is at least 3%. For planters and very depleted soil we recommended 40% biochar. We haven't tried it, but I've been told that 60% is when the biochar no longer has any benefits. Remember that biochar itself is inert, completely neutral (albeit with a high pH), so most importantly the biochar needs to be inoculated with microorganisms, through co-composting or other method. Finally there is no one "biochar", depending on the feedstock you get one of many different "biochars".

@@circlecarbonlabs I apologize but I have some questions that there is no clear guidance on the web. Your veggies look fantastic, so whatever you are doing seems right. Is this a % by weight or by volume? What is considered 100%, for example: 10 inches down, 20 inches down, the root zone of that species? Are you referring to the % of the compost/biochar mix? And if so what is the ratio of that mix? How is this added to an existing soil i.e. as a much or dug in. Are there any other fortifying agents added, say if a soil analysis showed a deficiency? Thank you for your time and video.

@@philgavin - Our 100% organic matter compost contains 20% biochar by volume. Based on minimum 3% organic matter in your soil, we recommend a 10cm (4 inch) layer topsoil. We started out with very poor soil, almost devoid of organic matter, and very compacted, so we plowed up the soil to 40cm depth, added approx. 20cm organic matter (in our case seaweed and mature horse manure), worked that in with a rototiller, then added 10cm layer of our biochar-based substrate. We have not used any fortifying agents, no minerals or extra nutrients (no fertilizers), but that will depend on your soil and what you plant. Hope this helps.

@@circlecarbonlabs Thank you very much for your reply.

Unless the water is very clean, many carp and large freshwater fish have high levels of contaminants.

Disculpa, este mensaje se me había escapado. Nuestro sustrato (TerraLlum) a base de biochar tiene 20% biochar. En las camas donde se plantaron los aguacates se le añadió material orgánico en las dos camas, approx. 20 cm mezclado con la tierra (muy arcillosa) existente. Al final, en la cama de derecha, el TerraLlum se le puso en una capa de 10 cm por encima sin mezclarlo con el resto de tierra que ya se había mezclado con la materia orgánica. En la cama de izquierda se quedó sin TerraLlum, solo con la materia orgánica. Gracias por el comentario, disculpa el atraso🙏🙏🙏

We went no-till without worrying about importing compost.

Not a fan of monoculture either, BUT untill we convince several million individuals to become farmers and they obtain land and get the education needed for permaculture / multicrop / whatever catchphrase is currently in style. . . . we are stuck feeding the world with monculture. Have you talked to any young folks lately about farming. . . It isn't high on their lists.

I've seen 10 to 1 be a suggested ratio compost/soil mixed with charged bio char. I've seen other people use heavier ratios and still have success but they bury it deeper than most. For me I don't limit how much bio char I add to my compost piles because I just put all that I make into the pile and then mix the finished product into a soil/pure compost mixture to achieve closer to the 10 to 1 ratio.

Yes, excellent

No manures.

Charcoal to biochar will depend on feedstock density, volume/weight, and pyrolysis temperature. Biomass to biochar can take anywhere from a few minutes in a continuous flow reactor at 400° C to 800° C to between 90 minutes and 3 hours to fill a KonTiki kiln with one cubic meter of biochar, again, depending on feedstock density, volume/weight, and temperature, provided feedstock is pre-sorted and dry.

@@circlecarbonlabs I might be jumping the gun but what do you by feed stock

@@larrysimmons6082 As biomass managers we receive tree cuttings from agriculture and forest biomass from clearing to reduce fire hazards. These are still considered waste so we don't pay and neither does the company that brings it.

@@circlecarbonlabs very nice I like the work that you do . And I agree with you I bet we need to act now, all of us, the whole world or country

Thanks for your comment. With our investments in machinery we have been able to scale our production from 200m3 biochar-based soil substrate per year to more than 2000m3/year (2400m3 to 3200m3), with optimisation making three times that possible (6000m3 including 1200m3 biochar = 900 tons CO2 equivalent Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)) - and that would be impossible without big machines.

fifty-fifty, really a matter of taste, the point of compost in biochar is for it to not draw N from your soil. Nobody can tell you the exact ratio cause it varies.

There is no safe ratio. . it all depends on the pH of the soil you are starting with. pH of composts can vary wildly based on how it was made. Generally if the soil or compost is acidic biochar is a good thing to add. If it is anywhere near being alkaline, please avoid it.

The Biochar is incorporated into the substrate “TerraLlum” from the beginning of the composting process, and stays between 3 and 6 months, before screening and then is permanently included in the living organism that is the soil. It’s during the composting process that the Biochar becomes inoculated and does it’s “magic”, creating the conditions for more microorganisms to develop and make more minerals and nutrients available to the plants.

I've had success incorporating biochar into soil about right before planting (including charging it in place in the soil by adding green grass to the charcoal in soil), if the biochar is charged you'll be successful any time but the earlier the better.

Regenerative with Biochar means you are implementing Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a Negative Emissions Technology. Regenerative without Biochar is good, with Biochar is very much better - also for exponentially faster and greater quality of growth in vegetation.

I should also say I like the video and am currently watching your other videos

Good point, we take safety seriously. Thanks

That's how we started (small farm scale), and discovered it doesn't work - there are minimum economies of scale that are necessary to make it efficient and financially viable - we suggest doing it on a community level, between 5 and 10 farms getting together to make the investments in machinery.

The available technology options are either modular and could be operated in tandem as required. Nowadays Biochar is made from Hobby scale, small Farmers, Market Gardeners, Viticulture, Fruit & Nut Growers, Landscape Gardeners etc. Important is not to just look for raw Biochar production but ready to use products as we can see in this fine video.

I think there is a future for contractor machinery that can go from farm to farm do this work. Allow smaller capital outlay per farm

build a stack of wood = ignite it = let it burn = extinguish = DONE

There are many ways to make biochar small scale. Then just mix with compost and let it mature a couple months before adding to crops.

At present there are more than 1000 academic research white papers published every year. Depending on your area of interest (agriculture, construction, materials, water retention, food production, carbon removal, etc.) you can Google “Biochar” + area of interest and find several interesting articles and research.

the most fertile parts of the Amazon rainforest is called 'terra preta', when rain falls on the land it drags nitrogen gas molecules, which are trapped inside the pores of the coal, increasing the residence time of the nitrogen gas increasing the efficiency of the roots .

@@circlecarbonlabs NEW SLANT = Make it economically viable first = DO THAT and you will be doing something NEW

NEW SLANT = Make it economically viable first = DO THAT and you will be doing something NEW

​@@lauralee6628 if you're allowed to burn you already have an economically viable solution for a small homestead.

The difference between regular charcoal and Biochar is the time and temperature of the pyrolysis; slow & low temperature (<350°C) for charcoal, fast & high temperature (400°C to 800°C) for biochar. The result is hydrophilic properties in biochar (adsorbs water & nutrients, minerals), hydrophobic properties in charcoal (repels moisture). Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) remain in charcoal, making it decompose, no VOC's in properly made biochar, make it "permanent" or recalcitrant, therefore an effective Negative Emissions Technology (NET) and effectively removing (or rather "fixing") Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, storing carbon in the soil for hundreds and thousands of years. Forest fires are natures way of making biochar, but very inefficiently, very little % of recalcitrant biochar , and overwhelming destruction of habitats and biodiversity. We do well to help nature store the carbon in the soil more efficiently.

@@fritzsmith3296 you mean like making giant burning pits to create the “bio char” and releasing all of the gases into the atmosphere? The plant to save the carbon footprint is burning things into carbon? I’m not following bub

@@fritzsmith3296 it would have if you weren’t naive to the fact that this solution would be used in “cut cost” method. Which in the long run, like all industry, would not lower anything. You’re chasing a pipe dream and burning things to do it. It makes no sense.

The nutrient breakdown is dependant on the source of the wood (pine is different than oak is different than mesquite). Despite these guys claims biochar DOES break down in the soil. I think they are conflating studies that show structurally intact biochar can last a long time (not thousands of years though, well ok in VERY specific conditions not found in gardens though). It is very similar to ceramic mediums used in aquariums to give microorganisms a safe structure, good catch. Biochar will have roughly the same potassium levels of the same source wood used to make pot ash (assuming we are talking OLD school pot ash). Pot ash is a quick way to add potassium, which you would not get from biochar, it would take a few years to get the same. Biochar IS useful to add organic matter to soils, it does help to retain moisture and does change the bioavailability of certain nutrients. Pot ash and biochar are used for different reasons.

I'm of the opinion that we need large scale for economical viability - and assured quality. Nevertheless smaller scale - if done correctly - can help more people realise the advantages of biochar applications. At this point however, considering the increasingly volatile world social, economic, and environmental situation, not to mention heat waves, droughts, floods, existing wars, wars threatened, water crisis, food crisis, fertiliser crisis... (we're almost running out of crises) - what we want to communicate with this video is that there is a LOT we can do, and we can do it NOW. SOIL REGENERATION - BIOMASS MANAGEMENT - CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL - FOOD SECURITY = STRONG & RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

That is a very good question and discussion starter, good reason to ask ourselves 1. Why (produce & use) Biochar / other Pyrogenic Carbon options? 2. At what Scale? Mobile to Stationary? and why mobile? 3. What are the local conditions requirements? Feedstock types and volumes... 4. Alternative situation 5. Thermal Energy utilisation options at any scale... 6. What is would be the optimum process etc.

let's gasify biomas for heat or energy but leave the charcoal for biochar production; no wasted materials or energy

yes

Very informative video, is it not possible to make electricity out of the volatile gases that are going into the atmosphere because of the open kiln method....is it the cost factor/economical viability that makes capturing votalile gases for production of electricity impossible by adopting more advanced machinery capable of capturing volatile gases?

Thank you Frank, just like you say, no time to waste!