12 CapitalPress.com
May 11, 2018
‘There is promise to this technology’
Wash.
Mont.
Source: National Interagency Fire Center
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Heightened risk of fires
expected across southwest
Idaho, northern Nevada
and northern Utah
74
2
58
49
32
40
42
47
5
26
Source: USDA NRCS
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Conditions are not as
bad as they were before
the 2015 drought
WATER from Page 1
half of the sites failed to
break 70 percent of average
snowpack.
All of that combines for
gloomy summer stream flow
forecasts throughout much
of the state. Stream flows in
the Klamath Basin are pro-
jected to be 26-68 percent of
normal through September.
The John Day Basin should
range between 38 and 84
percent of average, and the
Owyhee and Malheur basins
are forecast at 30-55 percent
of average.
Farther north, higher
snowpack should translate
into healthier flows for local
streams. Flows should be
89-100 percent of normal in
the Hood, Sandy and Low-
er Deschutes basins; 79-97
percent in the Willamette
Basin; 68-120 percent in
the Umatilla, Walla Walla
and Willow basins; and 41-
103 percent in the Grande
Ronde, Powder, Burnt and
Imnaha basins.
Reservoir levels vary
across the state, though
most are at or near capac-
ity, which may be the sav-
ing grace for farmers and
ranchers who rely on sur-
“Water supplies
will still need to be
carefully managed,
but healthy reservoir
storage across
the state will likely
provide some
buffer for the low
stream flows that
are anticipated this
summer.” — RCS report
face water for irrigation.
“Water supplies will still
need to be carefully man-
aged, but healthy reservoir
storage across the state will
likely provide some buffer
for the low stream flows that
are anticipated this sum-
mer,” the NRCS reports.
As bad as water supplies
are shaping up this year, con-
ditions still are not as bad as
they were before the 2015
drought. That year holds the
record for the lowest snow-
pack in Oregon, which was
just 11 percent of normal as
of May 1 and peaked months
ahead of schedule.
‘Terra preta’
Sustainability is the founda-
tion of Machado’s interest in
biochar.
The history of the substance
dates back to prehistoric Ama-
zonian tribes in South Ameri-
ca. By burning vegetation and
raking the charred leftovers
into the soil, they could spend
their entire lives growing crops
in a single location within the
dense rainforest.
European settlers came to
know it as “terra preta,” or
“black earth.”
“I was fascinated by the
fact that these soils can remain
productive for a thousand
years without putting in any-
thing,” Machado said.
Today, biochar is created
through a process called pyrol-
ysis, where biomass is burned
at extremely high temperatures
— up to 1,832 degrees Fahren-
heit — with low levels of oxy-
gen, avoiding combustion and
leaving behind mostly carbon.
The material can be burned
in pits, trenches, homemade
kilns or larger, more sophis-
ticated industrial equipment.
By restricting oxygen, 50 to
70 percent of the carbon is
retained in the solid biochar,
while the rest is released as
carbon dioxide.
But it’s the structure of bio-
char that makes it especially
valuable to farmers.
Just one gram of biochar
has a surface area of 1,000
Biochar and CO 2
Carbon in biomass
would eventually
CO 2
return to the
atmosphere
through natural
processes.
Using biomass
for biochar and
energy production
speeds up that
process. However,
biochar can be
carbon negative
because it holds a
significant amount
Soil carbon
of carbon in the
soil for hundreds
Carbon sequestration by
of years.
photosynthesis — Carbon neutral
Net carbon withdrawal from atmosphere: 0
CO 2
Pyrolysis 25%
25%
80
95
1. The flame provides heat for pyrolysis. 2. The
resulting gases burn in the luminous zone, called
flaming combustion. 3. char is produced. 4. When the
flame is extinguished the wood continues to bake, or
pyrolyze, releasing condensed tar droplets as it cools.
Carbon release -5%
*Average annual SWE, 1981-2010
Equipment for biochar production can
generally be classified as either pyrolysis
or gasification systems. They can be as
simple as a campfire or as high-tech as a
modern bio-refinery. The process involved
in these systems, pyrolysis, can be
demonstrated in a burning match:
25%
(As of May 6)
Percent of median*
25-50%
51-70
71-90
91-110
Pyrolysis gas
50%
Oregon snow
water equivalent
Luminous
burning gases
Char
50%
fuel-free patch quickly and
burn out, he said.
through-April, precipitation
Forecasters also expect
was about 70 percent of nor- a heightened risk of signif-
mal in southwest Idaho and icant wildland fires across
50 to 70 percent of normal in southwest Idaho, northern
Nevada and northern Utah,
southeastern Oregon.
The report said south- the report said.
eastern Oregon’s
Higher eleva-
tions in the Cas-
warm, dry April
Higher
cade Range, north-
stood out in con-
trast to cooler, wet- snowpack ern Sierra Nevada
ter conditions in
possibly the
typically and
much of the North-
Northern Rocky
shortens Mountains may see
west.
Newmerzhycky timberland elevated fire poten-
tial should warmer,
said the risk of big
fire
drier-than-average
fires jumps in wet-
ter-than-normal
seasons conditions devel-
op as expected,
years at lower ele-
vations. Grass and
the report said.
brush grow profusely, and Above-normal potential for
when they dry — a quick large fires is expected east
process, since they are light of the Cascades, and in Ore-
— they leave big, less fre- gon’s southwest corner.
quently interrupted areas of
Higher snowpack typ-
ically shortens timberland
wildfire fuel, he said.
In dry years, grass and fire seasons because the big-
brush often carry into the ger plants on the forest floor
next year but do not grow take longer to dry out and
as profusely, making it more become fire fuel, Newmer-
likely that a fire will hit a zhycky said.
Machado grew up in Gwe-
ru, Zimbabwe, in southern
Africa. He remembers spend-
ing summer vacations at his
grandfather’s farm outside the
city, raising cattle and growing
corn, peanuts and wheat.
At the time, Machado said,
he had no interest in farming
— “Too much hard work,” he
chuckles at himself in hind-
sight. Even then, he could see
the soils deteriorate as they
were depleted of nutrients.
“My grandfather was very
poor, and could not afford
fertilizer,” Machado said. “I
could see, every year, the re-
duction in yields.”
Following Zimbabwe’s war
for independence, Machado
left the country as a refugee for
nearby Swaziland. When the
time came for college, he was
given a choice between study-
ing animal sciences or agricul-
ture, two important skills that
were needed back home.
Machado also played
semi-professional soccer for
Mbabane Swallows F.C. in
Swaziland, and though they
competed in packed stadiums,
he said the players were not
paid well. He decided to stay
in school, eventually graduat-
ing with a bachelor’s degree in
agriculture.
At the time, Machado said,
Zimbabwe was struggling eco-
nomically, with 80-90 percent
unemployment. Rather than
return, he headed for the Uni-
versity of Reading in England,
where he earned a master’s
degree in crop physiology and
agronomy.
From there, Machado ar-
rived in the U.S., where he
obtained a doctorate in crop
sciences and agronomy from
Kansas State University. He
joined OSU in 2001, and ap-
plied for U.S. citizenship four
years later.
Thinking back to the ex-
hausted soils at his grandfa-
ther’s farm, Machado said the
goal of his current research is
to promote cultural sustain-
ability without harming the
environment.
“Farming is a business, and
they’re looking at this year’s
yield, but I want them to think
about their children and their
grandchildren,” Machado said.
“If they’re gone, what are they
leaving them with?”
Combustion
products
How is it made?
Carbon release 50%
WILDFIRE from Page 1
Sustainability
ike charcoal, biochar is a solid material made from the
carbonization of biomass. Biochar can restore soil function
and fertility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from biomass
that would normally decompose, act as a carbon sink, and
provide a source of clean, renewable energy.
L
p ir a ti o n
The areas marked in red
indicate a greater than usual
likelihood that significant
wildland fires will occur.
Above normal
wildfire conditions
BIOCHAR
R es
Utah
synthesis
oto
Ph
Projected
wildland fire
potential,
August 2018
Nev.
Beneficial
p ir a ti o n
Calif.
That is where biochar
might be able to help. It con-
tains up to 70 percent carbon,
and its molecular structure is
like a sponge for soaking up
and holding water.
Machado began exper-
imenting with biochar on
small plots in 2012. Though
he was initially skeptical, the
results have shown a roughly
25 percent increase in wheat
yields.
“I’ve been pleasantly
surprised,” Machado said.
“There is promise to this tech-
nology.”
R es
Idaho
synthesis
oto
Ph
BIOCHAR from Page 1
Ore.
Bioenergy:
Carbon
neutral
(reduced
emissions
from fossil
fuel source)
Biochar
Biochar sequestration — Carbon negative
(reduces emissions from biomass)
Net carbon withdrawal from atmosphere: 20%
Use in soil
Biochar enhances soil by holding carbon, making it more fertile. Benefits include:
• Reduced leaching of nitrogen
• Increased number of soil microbes
• Controlled soil acidity
• Increased water retention
• Possible reduced nitrous oxide emissions
• Increased cation-exchange capacity *
*Cations are a group of nutrients beneficial to plants. Cation-exchange capacity is the total capacity of a soil to hold exchangeable cations.
Source: International Biochar Initiative
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Stephen Machado/OSU Extension
George Plaven/Capital Press
Stephen Machado, professor and agronomist for Oregon State
University Extension, holds a pine branch from the Umatilla Nation-
al Forest that has been converted into biochar.
square meters, Machado said.
“It can hold onto everything.”
At the research station,
Machado has several small
plots of wheat and peas treated
with biochar at different rates.
His results show steady gains
in crop yield for amounts of
biochar ranging up to 5 tons
per acre.
Another benefit, Machado
said, is that biochar can mend
acidic soils caused by ammo-
nium nitrogen fertilizers, an
issue increasingly seen among
Eastern Oregon and Washing-
ton farms.
In his trials, soil pH in-
creased from as low as 4.5, or
highly acidic, to 6.5, which is
closer to neutral. The critical
pH level for growing wheat,
Machado said, is 5.2.
“This is doing the job we
need,” he said.
Gary Betts, who grows 260
acres of wheat near Athena,
Ore., is working with Mach-
ado on biochar testing at his
farm. The first year, Betts said,
they saw a 20 percent increase
in yield on the experimental
plots.
“You can dramatically re-
duce the use of fertilizer, may-
be eliminate it completely, and
it raises the pH,” Betts said.
“It holds incredible promise of
reducing agricultural costs, at
the same time improving the
environment for everyone in
the area.”
The challenge is getting
more farmers such as Betts to
buy into biochar. Machado said
the material is still quite expen-
sive, up to 10 cents per pound,
because not much is current-
ly produced. That adds up to
$1,000 for 5 tons, enough for
about an acre.
Different types of biochar
also have different properties,
which makes it critical that
farmers know exactly what
they are getting.
“Because it’s a new tech-
nology, many farmers are not
yet convinced,” Machado said.
“And if farmers want it, it’s still
a limited supply.”
Forest 2 Farm
Machado and Betts are part
of a new nonprofit organization
dedicated to making biochar
more affordable, accessible and
widespread.
Forest 2 Farm, established
in June 2017, proposes using
forest waste as a local feed-
stock for biochar, which would
not only benefit farmers but
provide a value-added market
for otherwise unsellable wood.
Jim Archuleta, biomass and
wood innovation coordina-
tor for the Forest Service Re-
gion 6 in Portland, is working
alongside the nonprofit. His
interest in biochar traces back
to his time working in the Di-
amond Lake Ranger District in
the Umpqua National Forest
of southwest Oregon, where
applying charred material was
shown to keep forage green
into August, when other vege-
tation would turn brown.
The goal now is to create a
market for biochar that can ben-
efit farms, while also helping
the forests harvest fine fuels that
help spread increasingly large,
destructive wildfires. Archuleta
said their focus is branches less
than 6 inches in diameter, slash
and bark — material that would
otherwise be burned in piles or
left on the ground to rot.
“We can walk away from
it, but at what cost?” Archuleta
said. “If we’re able to figure out
how to use this system strategi-
cally to create zones of reduced
wildfire risk ... that’s what I
hope this (project) can do.”
It takes 16 tons of raw mate-
Woody debris is just one raw
material for making biochar. A
nonprofit organization, Forest
2 Farm, is looking at how using
slash and other forest waste
to make biochar could benefit
both forests and farmers in
northeast Oregon.
rial to make one ton of biochar,
Archuleta said. At that rate, he
figures the forests could make a
serious dent in halting the rapid
spread of wildfires by treating
forests and converting the ma-
terials to biochar.
Archuleta also said the For-
est Service is working with a
private company to develop
an in-woods mobile biochar
processor capable of producing
10-20 cubic yards of biomass
per hour. A beta version of the
equipment could be placed in
the Umatilla National Forest,
near where Machado conducts
his on-farm research.
Machado said the next step
is to expand his trials to one or
more acres to demonstrate the
value of biochar on a larger
scale.
Jerry Adams, secretary of
Forest 2 Farm and executive
director of the Evaluation and
Development Institute, a cli-
mate-focused consulting group
based in Houston, said they
hope to secure funding through
a combination of grants and
public donations.
“It’s difficult to get farmers
to change their practices based
on small plots,” Adams said.
“They want to look out over
the horizon and see what’s
changed.”
Adams believes biochar
could sequester massive
amounts of carbon dioxide in
the ground and help stave off
the effects of climate change.
Machado, meanwhile, is
optimistic biochar could catch
on in agricultural circles, if and
when the market develops.
“Farmers are so good at
transferring knowledge,” he
said. “If it works on one farm,
others will adopt it.”