Recently, we completed our first demonstration burn for the U.S. Forest Service at Sherman Pass in the Colville National Forest. Our two man crew burned one Oregon kiln and converted almost 2 complete hand-piles of slash. About two hours into our scheduled four hour burn, we were interrupted by Mother Nature who unleashed nickel-sized hail, followed by a thunderstorm with nearby lightning strikes. The storm almost completely doused the kiln, so we ended the burn early. However, we were able to achieve a good charring temperature of 600°F. We finished with approximately 30 ft3 of biochar that will be used as a soil amendment on the forest floor and sequester almost a quarter ton of atmospheric CO2.

You can view pictures and a video of the burn here.

As we launch our Biochar Program, the Oregon kiln has been our workhorse. We are exploring alternatives for practical ways to remove forest waste to increase the scale of our program and create biochar. We are looking into modular kilns that can be constructed around the slash piles for burning and that do not require continual addition of feedstock. Experience is the teacher; and as we gain more, we are modifying our approach to better suit our goals.