Prospects of Biochar Use in Forestry Deborah Page-Dumroese Hongmei Gu Nate Anderson Rick Bergman A lile background Using forestry feedstocks to: • Reduce wildfire risk • Lessen insect and disease risk • Improve soil water relaons • Healthy trees/forests • Soil resilience to drought and flood • 10 long-term forestry field trials Overview • Forest harvesFng and feedstock management • Changing forest producFvity • Understanding the benefits • Climate change miFgaon Historic Issues of Land Management in the USA • 1979 • “A major problem confronFng forestry is how to more efficiently harvest Fmber without creang unacceptable impacts on the forest environment.” • “The full uFlizaon of residual material leW in the woods following logging and thinning operaons, and disease, and insect aack, and windthrow has long been a source of concern and frustraon to the forest manager.” From: Environmental Consequences of Timber HarvesFng in the northern Rocky Mountains. GTR-INT-190 Too much of a good thing… • Sites with too much logging slash • Wildfire risk • Not feasible to broadcast burn • Piles are created (and burned) Common pracHces on many forest sites • Piled and burned • Biomass from harvest operaons • Burning alters soil condiFons • Long-term alteraons Long-term impacts of pile burning • Many hectares impacted from hot, concentrated fires • Loss of OM • Nutrient volalizaon • Few trees or shrubs • OWen non-nave species Forest Supply Chain Context Current harves,ng model: Forest biomass to bioenergy 1. Felling trees (harvester) 5. Trucking (chipped biomass) 6. BIOENERGY! 2. Moving biomass (forwarding) 3. Storage (drying) 4. Chipping (roadside or mill) Or: Forest biomass to waste 1. Felling trees (harvester) 6. NO ENERGY and no C seQuestra,on! 2. Moving merchantable biomass 3. Piling or Storage (drying) 4. Burning Envisioned ‘in woods’ model: Forest biomass to bioenergy 5. Trucking 1. Felling trees (high value bio-oil, (harvester) Biochar, pellets) 6. BIOENERGY! 2. Moving biomass to landing (forwarding) 3. Slash piles 4. Chip, create biochar, spread (drying) on forest sites Concerns about biomass harvesHng and ecosystem services • DestrucFon of wildlife habitat • Decline of fresh water quality and quanFty • Visual impacts • Erosion • Overall negave impact on long- term producFvity, sustainability, or changes in succession Assessing the Effects of Biomass Removal for Bioenergy Stand level Do biomass utilization treatments impact stand Question 2 production? Do biomass utilization treatmentsQuestion impact 3 vegetation composition, natural regeneration, and ecosystem structure? Do individual trees respond to biomass utilizationQuestion treatments? 1 Tree level Regeneration Do biomass utilization treatments impact Questionartificial regeneration? 4 Soil produc,vity DoesQuestion total removal 5 of excess biomass alter soil productivity? (Jang et al., 2014) 40 years of Bioenergy Harvesng data • Forest sites are resilient • IdenFfy sites that are sensiFve to compacFon or other impacts • Soil carbon rebounds within a rotaon (or less) Biochar is equivalent to naHve charcoal in forest ecosystems • Char is common in fire-adapted ecosystems • Fire suppression decreases charcoal inputs • Biomass removal decreases the likelihood of fire occurring • Applying biochar as a co-product of pyrolysis removes wildfire hazard and retains soil ecosystem funcFon What can biochar do on forest sites? What can biochar do on forest sites? Changes in decomposi/on rate 60 Biochar alters the rate of 50 wood decomposion • Increasing soil organic 40 Year 1 maer for water, nutrients 30 Year 2 Year 3 and microbial acFvity Weight loss (%) 20 Year 4 Year 5 10 0 Control Wood Biochar FerFlizer Biochar + chips only only FerFlizer What can biochar do on forest sites? Changes in tree growth 3,5 3 Biochar alters tree growth • Within 5 years an 8% 2,5 increase in tree height 2 increment. 1,5 • Both above- and belowground long-term 1 Height growth increment (m) carbon sequestraon 0,5 0 Control Wood chips Biochar Fer,lizer Biochar + only only Fer,lizer What can biochar do on forest sites? Changes in soil moisture 16 Biochar alters soil moisture 14 • Within 3 years we see 12 increases in soil water 10 holding capacity 8 5 cm depth • Decreases insect and 10 cm depth 6 Soil Moisture (%) disease risk 4 • Healthier forest stands 2 0 Control Biochar Wood chips Is this feasible? • Conducted Life-Cycle Analyses for Biochar-based AcFvated Carbon(AC) and compared to Coal-based AC • Cradle-to-gate LCA Impact category Unit Biochar AC Coal AC Global warming kg CO2 eq 8.60 18.28 Fossil fuel deple,on MJ surplus 17.09 22.65 • Made acFvated carbon from managed forest residues • Physical properFes of acFvated carbon were beYer than coal-based AC Global warming impacts for electricity 1,079 w/o biochar carbon sequestration 0,748 0,720 0,499 w/ biochar carbon sequestration 0,330 GWP (kg CO2 eQ/kWh) 0,046 COAL NATURAL GAS NORTHWEST US GRID BIOMASS TUCKER RNG SYNGAS (W/O C TUCKER RNG SYNGAS (W/ C SEQUEST) SEQUEST) 22 Understanding harvest and biochar risks and benefits Harvest • LiYle evidence that long-term site producFvity declines with bioenergy harvesFng • Biochar increases carbon sequestraon and may increase site producFvity Biochar • Match biochar to sites to maintain microbial acFvity Some final thoughts Forest biomass is a promising feedstock for bioenergy, biochar, and biofuel • Widely available as a byproduct of Fmber harvesFng • Avoids slash pile impacts on the soil • Renewable • Can achieve energy objecFves of reducing GHG emissions of fossil fuel • Revive the declining industrial base in many rural US communiFes • Using a supply chain approach increases efficiencies for delivering biochar products Thank you .