Biochar Facility

Biochar is a carbon-rich solid made from organic waste such as tree prunings or agricultural waste. The waste organics, also called feedstock, are heated in an oxygen-limited environment at high temperatures. This process is known as pyrolysis.

Biochar can be used to enhance growing conditions for plants in poor soils by improving soil structure, nutrient and water retention, and fertiliser efficiency. For instance, Council may use biochar for street tree plantings in poor and compacted roadside soils. Additionally, biochar can be used by farmers and gardeners to increase soil carbon, reduce irrigation and fertiliser demand, and increase microbial life in soils with associated benefits for better plant growth and climate change mitigation.

There are numerous benefits in converting organic waste into biochar for use as a soil amendment. 

Soil improvement - Biochar can improve poor and degraded soils with significant improvements to plant growth, crop yield and soil health.

Carbon draw-down - Biochar made from woody waste and other plant material stabilises the carbon that the plants absorbed from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. By adding biochar to soil, this stabilised carbon is locked up long-term, preventing it from re-entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. The process of plants capturing carbon during their growth and then locking the carbon up as biochar in soil can be used as a carbon draw-down mechanism to mitigate climate change, as identified by the IPCC scientists in their recent report (IPCC report).

Air-quality improvement- In plantation forestry, large amounts of woody waste are regularly burnt off after thinning or harvesting trees. By converting this waste material into biochar through controlled pyrolysis, poor air quality caused by the smoke from open fires can be avoided and the contained carbon in the woody biomass can be retained as a valuable soil enhancer benefiting our environment.

Economic benefits - Biochar and other by-products of pyrolysis (i.e., Syngas or Wood Vinegar) are valuable products that can provide revenue from waste streams. Additionally, long-term sequestration of carbon as biochar in soils is recognised as a carbon offset mechanism and can be traded as carbon credits purchasable by public and private entities to offset greenhouse gas emissions.   

Renewable energy - The pyrolysis of organic matter into biochar and its by-products is an exothermic reaction, meaning that it produces usable excess heat. For the Lysterfield plant, the excess heat is used to dry the feedstock material to ensure a clean and efficient pyrolysis process in the first instance.

An excellent summary of further reaching benefits of biochar and future industry direction can be found in the ANZBI (Australian New Zealand Biochar Initiative) Roadmap.

Yarra Ranges Council is committed to implement innovative solutions that help mitigate and adapt to the negative impacts of climate change on our community and the pristine environment we all share.

Council’s Liveable Climate Plan and the accompanying Action Plan outline Council’s endorsed path towards net-zero emissions by 2040. A key action is the establishment of the Biochar Facility (Action 1.2 - Biomass Carbon Capture Facility).

Taking woody material out of the waste stream and converting it to biochar not only prevents the carbon stored in the wood to be emitted as greenhouse gas but provides a mechanism to actively draw-down carbon from the atmosphere. Furthermore, adding biochar to soils increases their water retention that can be used by plants during periods of drought. This can make farming, horticulture and roadside plantings more drought resilient, actively cools the surrounding areas, and ensure the long-term viability of agriculture in the Yarra Ranges and beyond.

It is expected that approximately 1000m3 of biochar can be produced each year. This amount is enough to regenerate about 11 hectares (approx. 6 MCG's) of degraded farmland with an average of 2% carbon content back to pre-colonialisation levels of 5% carbon content, every year.

Emissions are extremely low and are within EPA guidelines.

No, there aren't any odours from the biochar facility.

The noise from plant and machinery is not noticeable outside the Waste Transfer Station.

Normal operating hours are from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday. The facility is not operational during the weekend, however, Council reserves the right to allow weekend operation in accordance with the current permissible operating hours of the waste transfer station.

Approximately two truckloads per day are expected to bring woody material to the site.

No, not in the initial stages of operation. As this is a novel technology, we are fine-tuning the pyrolysis process and rely on tree maintenance operators to provide a consistent quality of chipped woody biomass. However, in the future we plan to extend the biochar facility with a pyrolysis unit capable of converting unchipped woody material into biochar which will enable public drop-off of woody prunings.

No.

This initiative was funded with $500,000 from the State Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund with Council matching this amount.

The Lysterfield Resource Recovery Centre (Waste Transfer Station) is strategically located at Wellington Road on the intersect between local government areas of Yarra Ranges Shire, City of Knox, City of Casey and Cardinia Shire, and in proximity of the Monash Freeway (M1). This ensures easy access for trucks to drop off feedstock without the need for detours which would cause more traffic and greater carbon emissions.