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USBI Conference 2012
Initiative News
February 20, 2026
Webinar to Present FInal Results: Emissions Testing for Flame-Cap Kilns & Conservation Burns Vs Standard Open Burn Piles
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Initiative News
October 30, 2021
Interest in Biochar is Growing!
The interest in biochar seems to be on a huge upswing lately. We have been retained as consultants on a number of projects over the last few months and more opportunities seem to be popping up weekly. We were retained by Earth Foundries, an environmentally-focused startup in Santa Clara County, to provide advice on biochar […]
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April 6, 2013
2013 Citizen Science Project Launches April 20th
Help us explore how biochar works in local soils using your personal, community, or school garden. Biochar has been shown in lab tests and scientific field trials around the world to be beneficial for soil health and plant production, and we want to test it in Sonoma County and the Bay Area. The project is […]
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March 22, 2013
55 Uses for Biochar
Here is another fantastic article from Hans-Peter Schmidt’s Ithaka Journal: 55 Uses for Biochar Hans-Peter makes a great case for first using biochar in at least one other way before putting it in the ground for agricultural use: “Biochar is much too valuable for it to be just worked into the soil without having it […]
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December 14, 2012
California Bill SB-1122: renewable bioenergy procurement
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=cd36e5138d18004eeb1fc4f367a0?bill_id=201120120SB1122 This bill, signed into law by Gov. Brown on Sept. 27th, requires energy corporations to procure electricity from producers of bioenergy. Here are a few key paragraphs: SECTION 1. Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 399.20. (a) It is the policy of this state and the intent of the Legislature […]
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May 19, 2012
19th Century Use of Charcoal/Biochar
Steven Edholm has published a fascinating collection stories of farmers using charcoal/biochar in Europe and America in the 19th Century. Check out his Blog here: TurkeySong Blog
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May 17, 2012
The Science of Biochar
More than a decade ago now, renowned soil scientist Wim Sombroek (1934-2003) brought to light the impressive performance of dark soils in the Amazon Basin. He along with fellow early scientists Johannes Lehmann, Dirse C. Kern, Bruno Glaser, William I. Woods among others help to establish the potential of what we now know as biochar. […]
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May 7, 2012
SBI Applies for Conservation Innovation Grant
The Sonoma Biochar Initiative (SBI), in partnership with Southern Sonoma County Resource Conservation District as lead applicant, recently submitted an application for federal funding under USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Innovation Grant program. The proposed project features a launch of biochar production from local biomass, field trials with local farmers, and education and […]
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April 12, 2012
SBI Advocates Cap and Trade Investments in Biochar for Agriculture
In a recent letter to Assemblymembers Perez, Blumenfield, Gordon and Feuntes and Senators Steinberg, Leno, Simitian and Kehoe, initiated by CalCAN, the California Climate and Agriculture Network, the Sonoma Biochar Initiative (SBI) urged that biochar, a climate response tool and a material to benefit agriculture, be considered for investment under the cap-and-trade fee revenue that […]
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