Comment Log Display

My name is Raymond Baltar and I am the Director of the Sonoma
Biochar Initiative, a project of the Sonoma Ecology Center. Thank
you for providing this opportunity to bring our voice to this
important discussion at this critical juncture. 

Our organization, in collaboration with many partners, has
accomplished much over the last 5 years, including planning and
hosting the US Biochar Conference in 2012 at Sonoma State
University, training over 300 farmers and foresters on an effective
conservation method which show producers how to manage traditional
open burn piles in a much less polluting way that also produces
biochar, and a CIG demonstration project where we are producing and
testing biochar on local farms in Sonoma County. But I am here to
focus on how and why biochar supports the Governor’s 5th Pillar—
managing natural and working lands to store carbon.

Biochar, is a form of charcoal suitable for use in agriculture.

The PRODUCTION of biochar:

1)	Improves management of currently underutilized biomass waste
streams 
2)	Produces a number of marketable co-products, including renewable
energy in the form of syngas, bio-oils, and process heat.
3)	Creates jobs in regenerative agriculture and community supported
energy independence- two key areas of our state economy that need 
acceleration 

A growing number of scientific studies indicate that the USE of
biochar in agricultural:

1)	CAN help farmers grow healthier soils that retain more moisture
and more nutrients, reduce input costs and help mitigate the
effects of our devastating drought while acting as a catalyst for
the growth of soil organic carbon- critical to meeting the food
security needs demanded of our great state. 
And

2)	Could be a significant and scalable strategy to help mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions and climate change by sequestering carbon
safely in the soil. This is where our interests as the leading
biochar advocacy organization in the state align perfectly with the
goals outlined in Gov. Brown’s 5th Pillar. There are other
synergies as well, such as with Pillars 1- 3 the goal of cleaner
and more renewable energy production, and Pillar #4, reducing black
carbon and methane.

In Europe, for example, a significant amount of biochar is first
being used in animal agriculture (for bedding or nutrition) before
it is used again to improve soil. One study found that cattle fed a
small amount of biochar reduced enteric methane emissions by 22%,
while also improving their weight. 

We strongly believe that the production and use of biochar has so
many potential benefits, and fits so well within the goals of the
Governor’s 5th pillar, that we feel large-scale, statewide field
trails (for livestock husbandry and soil)  should be a priority and
funded by the State.  We commend Secretary Ross and Secretary Laird
and their staffs for the strides made to date. We have a growing
network of scientists, University researchers, ag and forestry
organizations, farmers and ranchers at-the-ready to participate in
testing, and biochar-related businesses ready and willing to
collaborate on these field trials, and we are committed  to help
build a coalition to get this research off the ground. 

Thank you.