U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell's 'biochar' bill intended to clean up forests, reduce emissions

U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives she said she hoped would cut down on greenhouse gas emissions while assisting with agriculture and forest management.

The bill known as the Biochar Innovation and Opportunities for Conservation, Health and Advancement in Research Act of 2021 would establish a demonstration project and grant program for the use of biochar in land management activities.

If passed, the bill would instruct the secretaries of agriculture and energy to establish a program and enter partnerships for projects to demonstrate biochar to develop and commercialize its use.

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At least one of the demonstration projects would be held in each region covered by the U.S. Forest Service.

Proposals would be given priority based on the level of carbon sequestration, potential for job creation and the market viability of the projects along with local need.

The Departments of Energy and Agriculture could then provide grant funding to research, develop or construct biochar and the needed facilities.

In a video posted to Twitter by House Minority Leader U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Herrell, herself from Alamogordo near Lincoln National Forest, said the “Biochar Act” said the bill was environmentally friendly and would aid in forest management.

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“We a great opportunity to harvest our natural resources, clean up our forest bed and use those products as biochar,” she said. “Biochar is use not only by our ag industries it’s used by our forest industry.”

Biochar involves burning organic matter like woodchips and introducing it into soil to reduce impacts like carbon emissions and drought through water retention.

Herrell said using biochar should be encouraged by the federal government and a way to use debris created during forest cleaning.

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“It retains water, it lessens the number of carbons let off into the atmosphere,” she said. “It is a great way, a safe way, a green way to protect our forest and bring much-need nutrients to our land while all the time preserving water.

“It’s great for our state. It’s great for our nation and really great for our industries.”

Does biochar work?

Academic research on biochar appeared to point toward it being helpful in mitigating impacts on the environment but could prove difficult and expensive to produce.

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Biochar is generated by heating organic materials using a low-oxygen source through a process called pyrolysis or anaerobic decomposition, per a report from the Utah State University Extension written by Soils Specialist Grant Cardon.

The resulting charcoal-like product can then be mixed back into the soil to sequester carbon, preventing it from being emitted into the atmosphere, and provide water to help soil absorb nutrients, the report read.

The more the biochar is heated, the more absorbent it becomes and the more carbon it retains.

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At lower temperatures of about 750 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit (F) up to half of the carbon is preserved, the report read, and at higher temperatures up to 1,300 F most of the material is converted to energy that can be used as a low-carbon source of power, with about 10 to 20 percent of the residue remaining as biochar.

Biochar can then be used to increase the fertility of soils in areas like forests.

The higher-temperature biochar can create a risk of “binding up” nutrients and have a negative impact on soil productivity, the report read.

“In either case, the biochar left over has desirable properties as a soil amendment,” Cardon wrote. “In fact, the lower-temperature products are very similar to materials proposed as responsible for the development of highly fertile “terra preta” soils in South America.”

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A study from American University posed some concern for the cost of producing biochar and argued it could be difficult to measure how much carbon biochar was specifically removing from the air.

The study estimated biochar could sequester 500 million to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) at a cost ranging from $18 to $166 per ton. Much of that cost, the study read, would depend on the amount of organic material specifically grown for biochar production.

“The potential and cost of using biochar at large scale remain somewhat unclear,” read the study. “Further research is needed to refine global and regional estimates of biochar’s cost and potential.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.