Biochar is a carbon-rich (charcoal-like) material formed by “cooking” (thermochemical conversion) waste organic matter, (harvested/waste wood, green waste, manures, etc.) in an oxygen-free environment. It is an ancient technology termed Terra Preta (“Dark Earth”) in ancient Amazon Basin cultures and was principally used to enrich farmlands prior to the advent of modern fertilizers. In the last several decades, biochar has seen a resurgence worldwide due to its ability to address a multitude of environmental objectives. Biochar holds unique promise for building soil carbon because, unlike labile biomass or manure carbon, biochar carbon can remain viable in soils for hundreds to thousands of years.
The Chesapeake Bay Science and Technical Advisory Committee workshop was held May 25-26, 2023 to address concerns about integrating biochar in Chesapeake Bay best management practices and elevate the Bay-wide use of biochar in practices to improve water quality by evaluating and translating current research for integration into current Chesapeake Bay protocols. Concurrent with rapid global research and biochar-focused publications, US research grew with demonstration projects in the Chesapeake Bay region conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, state and federal partners, and non-profits. These projects show significant environmental benefits including water quality improvement (reduction of nutrients/toxics), improved agricultural and urban soil health, and significant increases in soil infiltration capacity and hydrology. These projects have greatly advanced the empirical evidence supporting biochar protocols, standards, specifications, and crediting which are lacking in the Bay region.
The urgency of this workshop was to accelerate the water quality efforts via the benefits biochar provides to plan forward for adapting water quality policies and opportunities considered in the forthcoming 2025-2035 TMDL. The USDA NRCS is issuing a nationwide conservation standard practice (CSP336) based on CSP808 for biochar as an approved Soil Carbon Amendment which allows farmers to apply for cost share from USDA. The workshop report outlines the outcomes and strategy for biochar integration with Chesapeake Bay protocols including the necessary scientific information, standards, and specifications for crediting to promote broad scale application.
Partners
STAC Staff: Chesapeake Research Consortium, Inc.
STAC Committee
West Virginia University
James Madison University
University of Delaware
DE Department of Agriculture
Infinite Solutions
Chesapeake Stormwater Network
Hugo Neu, Inc.
USA EPA Region 3
Sponsors
Press
For more information, contact Jennifer Egan at jegan@umd.edu or 302-540-4546.
Image creditS:
https://www.ridgetoreefs.org/innovative-biofilter-bmps-project-home-page
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=22132
